Another Toy Story Story
by CatGal15
Summary: In the continuation, the gang is introduced to their newest member. Please R&R.
1. Chapter 1

It was the sensation of fingers on her face that brought Jessie awake. She kept her one good eye closed, forcing herself to look sedate.

It was a toy. She hadn't been touched by a toy in...years. And never so gently, so lovingly. Wait...was the toy crying?

She opened her eyes, finding herself staring at a strange toy indeed. His unfamiliarity scared her, and she surprised him by slapped his hands away. "Get off of me!" she snarled, in a caustic voice that sounded nothing like his beloved Jessie. "What's your problem?"

"Don't...don't you remember me?" he asked.

"Why should I remember you? We've never met."

He withdrew a little, quirking an eyebrow. "Is there a switch on you I don't know about?" he asked, and suddenly he was rolling her over.

"Hey, hey! Stop! What are you doing? Leave me alone, freak!"

He released her, picking up her legs and examining the bottoms. They were worn and the paint was peeling. And he noticed something else.

"Sorry, sorry...Wrong Jessie."

"Give me my legs back," she demanded, and he dumped them on the ground beside her.

"What happened to you?"

"None of your business!"

Buzz looked back at the idle car. "I can't very well leave you here."

"You very well can," she growled.

A car door slammed, and Buzz walked a few steps forward, peering past the foliage. A guy was standing at the truck that had passed by, staring into the empty bed. "Where's the box?"

"What?" another guy asked.

"The box with the old doll; where is it?"

Buzz turned to look at the hatless Jessie, who looked warily back at him.

"Uhh..."

"I thought I told you to secure it!"

The men got into the truck and it soon left the parking lot, pulling out into the street. It vanished into the foggy night.

Buzz walked back to Jessie. "There's got to be a way to get you out of here."

"I'm not going anywhere with you."

Buzz looked at the waiting car across the parking lot. "Alright, suit yourself," he suddenly said, and he briskly turned away from her and began to leave. He went slowly, hoping she would call back to him, but she remained silent. He crossed the parking lot and returned to the car feeling as if he was leaving Andy's Jessie behind.

He stopped beside the car, staring up at the handle. "Blast. I really should've thought this through."

He circled the car, pulling himself up onto the hood and scrabbling over the windshield. He had just pulled himself onto the top of the car when a van swerved around the corner and came to a screeching halt. The driver stared at him.

He grimaced, but walked to the sun roof and pulled it open, dropping into the car. "Uh, troops, we have two dilemmas."

Just then the back door opened and Andy placed Stinky Pete onto the backseat.

"Okay," Buzz said, "Now, three."

"You again!" Slink croaked.

"Hey, better him than Lotso," Mr. Potato Head said.

"It's been a long time! I don't know if I can go back that far!" Rex complained.

Words were lost as the toys began speaking all at once. It was the sight of Andy's fresh-faced, hat-wearing Jessie that ceased the conversation. Buzz rushed to greet her shortly before Woody was also placed on the seat.

"Sorry about all this," Andy said. "Tell you what..." He stopped speaking as he realized the woman was peering past him.

"Are they alive?" she asked breathlessly.

Everyone hesitated.

"You can't tell anyone," Andy told her.

"O-o-okay." Looking greatly disturbed, she turned and walked away, still peering at the toys.

Andy sighed and looked back at the toys. "I'll take you back to my place and talk to Daniel."

"Yeah, why not," Mr. Potato Head said, watching the woman peer at him one last time.

Andy moved to close the door.

"So what are the other two dilemmas?" Mrs. Potato Head asked.

Buzz felt Jessie's soft presence hovering beside him, and he put a hand on her waist and pulled her close. "That woman was one of them."

"So what else?" Jessie inquired.

Buzz looked at her as Andy got into the driver's seat. "There's another Jessie in the bushes. But, hey - " He put a hand on his beloved. "For your own peace of mind, you probably don't want to look."

She stared at him. "Is it bad?"

"Yeah. Very."

"I'll go," Woody volunteered, and then paused to look at Andy. "If that's okay."

"Yeah, go ahead."

Woody straggled out the window and ran awkwardly across the parking lot.

Hatless Jessie sat up as she heard boots crunching the dead, dry leaves. "I thought I told you to leave me alo - " The word died in her mouth as she stared at the familiar Woody doll. It wasn't hers, she knew. He was in excellent condition, given his age. But it brought back all the memories; and though she was unable to shed a tear, she felt her lower lip tremble at the sight of him.

Then another Jessie, her own reflection before she was damaged, materialized behind Woody; and the two cowgirls gaped at one another. Moving stiffly, Jessie passed Woody and dropped to her knees beside hatless Jessie. Each doll stared at her own face, and hatless Jessie's horrified eyes went from one cow doll to the other.

"What...what happened to you?" Jessie gasped.

Hatless Jessie was too shocked to say anything. Her eyes swung back to Woody and the functional portion of her face contorted. Finally she found her voice. "Help me."

"Okay. Okay, I'm here. Hang on." Woody knelt, wrapping his arms around her. She held him tight, putting her cheek against his shoulder as he lifted her torso. "Jessie, grab her legs."

"I've got them, Woody."

The pair slowly made their way across the wet pavement. Seeing them coming, Andy got out of the car and opened the back door. "Here," he said, and collected hatless Jessie and her legs. He put her in first, and the toys stared at her.

"Oh, you poor darling," Mrs. Potato Head said, taking her hand. "You're safe now."

Buzz nodded once in agreement.

Andy put Jessie and Woody on the seat and stared down at the two Jessies before closing the door. Exhausted and very, very sad, hatless Jessie let her head fall against the back of the seat. It made her look too broken for Buzz to bear, and he had to avert his eyes.

Hatless Jessie stared at Woody during the whole drive. Her functional eye was just as unblinking as her left, and had her mouth not moved, he would have believed she had lost the will to live; thus turning her inanimate - into nothing more than a simple, normal doll, without feelings or the ability to hear and talk. But she spoke, reassuring him she was still there: "Why does your human know about us?"

Not knowing what else to say, Woody said, "Because...you were meant to be found tonight."

"Um, I'm curious," Rex suddenly said, "Can you see out of your bad eye?"

Because her left eye couldn't respond to her commands, she had to turn her head to look at him. "I didn't exactly damage a nerve, now did I?"

Rex looked at Mr. Potato Head. "That sounded like a yes."

"It was," Buzz answered.

Hatless Jessie tried to rearrange herself, but without legs, with her insides coming out, it was pretty difficult. She slumped against the back of the seat in resignation.

"The damage is only on the outside," she lied softly. 


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm not much of a seamster..." Andy carefully deposited hatless Jessie into the box. "But I know a guy."

Hatless Jessie's voice caught with emotion, "Could - could I walk again?"

"Yeah, he's the best." Andy picked up the box and carried the toys from the garage into the house. The toys froze in their trademark positions as he called for his son, but he didn't appear at his father's call and the toys thawed.

"So, seriously. Why does he know about us?" Jessie persisted.

"The short version is that if he didn't, we'd be separated. Woody and Bullseye and I would be in a museum," Jessie answered. "We'd be trapped."

"So would I," Stinky Pete reminded her.

"No one cares," Woody retorted.

"That's awfully hypocritical, don't you think?" Stinky Pete asked. "You would have done anything to get out."

"You're a threat. You need to be locked away. Fortunately, that's my job."

Stinky Pete chuckled, halting him.

"What're you laughing at?" Woody demanded.

"You're just as bad as as the space toy. One plastic star on your chest and you think you're actually toy patrol!"

"Because it's in my job description! Read the star, pal. Jessie, tell him."

There was no response, and Woody looked over at her. She was staring at hatless Jessie with a look of remorse. Following her gaze he was mortified to see that she was sewing her own legs onto her body.

"That is so disturbing," Buzz muttered. He looked at his Jessie for comfort, but all he could see in her perfect face was a shattered eye.

She stared at him, unable to overlook the sudden disenchantment on his face. Paying no mind to her captive audience, hatless Jessie continued to perform surgery on herself; poking the stuffing in before sewing the seams together. Unable to watch a moment longer, Buzz hoisted himself over the wall and out of the box. Dropping onto the kitchen table, he walked to the end and examined the unfamiliar dining room sprawled out before him in shameless opulence.

It didn't take long before Jessie approached. He recognized the sound of her boots, but he was afraid to look at her - afraid to see which Jessie would be looking back.

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

"Yes. Just a...little creeped out, is all."

She nodded, playing with her fingers. "Too creeped out to look at me?"

He hesitated, but soon his eyes found hers. Before either toy could say anything, hatless Jessie hoisted herself over the edge of the box and climbed out, landing on two perfectly attached legs. She turned and the functional portion of her face smiled so brightly, so sincerely that Buzz felt his antisocial reserve begin to melt.

"I feel so tall," she announced happily.

The toys all watched as she took several unsteady steps. It was Rex's thoughtless remark that made her halt. "Now all you need is an eye patch!"

Like she had slammed into a wall, she stopped in her tracks.

"I mean...good job," Rex tried to amend.

Hatless Jessie looked at Buzz and Jessie, neither of whom met her eyes. She turned and looked at the other toys, who were either looking at Rex or at her.

Woody tried to console her. "What you need is a new name, so it doesn't get confusing."

"I never said I'd stay," she spat. She approached the edge and jumped off onto the seat of the chair, then onto the floor. "You can thank your human for me when you see him."

"New Jessie, wait - "

"Good riddance."

She continued walking, holding herself tightly.

Woody jumped from the table right to the floor, and walked after her into the hallway. "Do you know where you are? What about where you're going?"

"I'll figure something out."

"Well, the first thing you need to figure out is that door."

Hatless Jessie stopped, looking slowly up at the impossibly far knob. As she tried to formulate a plan, Woody looked down at her braid, noticing for the first time that the ribbon was worn out and the wool hair was coming loose and discolored with encrusted dirt. He felt something new - a strong protectiveness for this identical likeness of a good old friend.

"I can get you out of this house, new Jessie. But you just got your legs back and you're in an unfamiliar place. I can help you so much more if you let me."

"I never asked for your help."

"No, you didn't. I'm offering, because I like you."

She whirled to face him. "You're a liar. A liar and a traitor."

His brows rose. "How have I betrayed you?"

Her icy demeanor wavered a little. "That slipped out," she muttered. "It wasn't you."

He stared at her while she tried to avoid his eyes.

"You know," he finally said, "It occurs to me that you and I are part of a very rare collection. It would hardly surprise me if you were the Jessie from the Woody's Roundup show."

Her good eye flew to meet his and he knew he had struck pay dirt.

Finally she found her voice.

"Call me Jessica." 


	3. Chapter 3

Jessica sighed and sat on a boot on the closet floor.

"So what's the plan, Jessica?" Woody asked.

She looked up at him. "Oh, I'm still leaving. But...I'd like a tour."

"Actually, this isn't my house; it's unfamiliar to me, too."

"No. I don't mean the house."

Woody pulled up the other boot and sat beside her as she continued, "I don't care for your green friend. He's rude."

"But that's not the only reason you're leaving, is it?" he guessed.

"No," she repeated. "I've been stuck in that box, in that storage room, for...Wait, what year is it?"

"2017."

"Then forty-three years," she continued. "I didn't even have enough room to change my position." Her good eye reluctantly met his. "I'm free now. And I'm going to go everywhere."

Woody stared at her. "I-I don't know 'everywhere'; I only know what's here. I'm sorry," he added, when she looked disappointed.

"No, no, it's okay. I've been waiting for this day for a long time."

Woody looked at her with a sad smile. "Well...not too far from here, there's a daycare. You can get played with all the time and you'll never be abandoned again. And if you like it there and you want to stay...my friends and I go there on the fifteenth and thirtieth each month."

"Played with?" Jessie asked dreamily. "By children?"

"Lots of children," he confirmed.

Her expression shifted into sadness and she sighed, shaking her head. "Nobody would play with me," she murmured. "Nobody would love me. Look at me."

"I am looking at you," he answered. "I've been to that daycare. Those kids play with all the toys."

She gazed plaintively at him.

The sound of a key being inserted into the lock frightened her, and she leaped off the boot and hid behind it. Woody did the same. With only a second to spare, the door swung open and Danny Davis walked inside. Woody and Jessica scattered as he dropped a suitcase into the closet. Pressing herself into the wall, Jessica looked at Woody, trembling in fear. He motioned for her to stay put.

Daniel closed the door and walked into the kitchen. Knowing she was visible if he looked at the closet, Jessica took advantage of his turned back and ran to Woody, concealed behind the wall.

"Dad! You home?"

There were footsteps above them, even though Daniel's shadow was still on the wall across from the closet.

"Hey," Andy said.

"Hey. What's all this doing here?" Daniel motioned to the toys.

"It's complicated - "

"I paid out the nose for them! I want them in the museum."

"It's not that easy. Uh, have a seat. There's something I need to tell you."

Woody looked at Jessica, who chewed nervously on her braid. Looking up at his weird expression, her eyes narrowed and she spat out her hair.

"Daniel...Believe it or not, earlier today, two people from my past cornered me and told me a secret about these toys. About all toys," he corrected.

"Yeah, what?" Daniel asked impassively.

"They're alive," Andy said bluntly.

There was a slight pause before Daniel's voice came again. "Nope. I'm not fallin' for that one. Didn't I tell you before, you're not funny?"

"I'm not kidding, and I can prove it." Andy motioned to the table, and Daniel looked over in boredom. His expression greatly shifted when he saw the toys looking back at him.

"Hey, kiddo," Mr. Potato Head greeted him.

Woody pulled on Jessica's hand, and the pair emerged from the closet, walking down the hallway and into the dining room. Seeing them in his peripheral vision, Daniel looked wildly from the group of toys on the table to the pair of toys on the floor.

Then, wordlessly, he turned and moved quickly to the stairs, ascending in a hurry while looking over his shoulder at them. He disappeared and then a door slammed.

"Will he be okay?" Mrs. Potato Head asked.

"Yeah, he's just surprised," Andy said. "He never reacts quite the way I'd like."

"He was pretty offhanded with Bonnie, too," Buzz informed him.

Andy nodded sadly. "I was afraid that would happen. He has some issues. I mean, he's a good person. Janey and I raised him well; but sometimes, he...takes small things too hard, or breaks things. He went to therapy once, but Dr. Kane said there was no reason to go back. Said he was normal."

"Did you hear him say that?" Mr. Potato Head asked.

"Yeah."

"Oh," Mr. Potato Head said eloquently, looking surprised.

"Maybe he was pretending to be stable," Hamm chipped in. "Just to get out of there faster."

"Oh, I don't know," Woody answered. "I think we all overreact sometimes."

The front door opened again and a pretty woman walked in, bearing a purse and a scowl. The toys dropped in place, and Andy knelt to scoop Woody and Jessica up.

Her voice was a whip. "Why is Daniel throwing his Elite Brigades onto the street?"

She shrieked as Woody and Buzz each sat up, looking at each other before racing for the door. Woody grabbed the hanger from the closet floor and jumped, hooking it around the doorknob and using it to pull himself close enough to the knob to open the door. As a pair they ran out into the street, grabbing the disposed action figures off the pavement before they could be crushed by traffic.

Looking up at the illuminated window, Woody saw Daniel look at him before closing the curtains. 


	4. Chapter 4

When Buzz and Woody carried the Elite Brigades back into the Davis house, Janey was sitting on a kitchen chair, almost hyperventilating, while Andy tried to calm her down. The toys watched from the table.

Realizing their secret was out, the Elite Brigades thawed. Buzz and Woody put them down so they could walk with dignity on their own. Woody didn't want to explain it all again, so when one of the action figures looked at him, all he said was, "Long story."

The action figure seemed to accept it, walking silently ahead. Woody crossed his arms and leaned on the wall, watching Janey.

Buzz turned his head to look at Woody. "So. This new Jessie say anything?"

Woody turned his attention to the damaged cowgirl, who smiled at him from her place on the floor. "Her name's Jessica."

Buzz nodded. "So, she's staying?"

"Nah. If anything she'll check out Sunnyside, but she says she wants to go everywhere."

"Everywhere!"

"Yeah. Said she was trapped in a box for forty-three years, couldn't even move."

Buzz stared at the worn version of his girlfriend. "That's...so sad."

"Yep."

Buzz looked at him again. "Can you imagine?"

Woody shook his head. "No. No, I couldn't."

"I wonder if she's claustrophobic, too," Buzz said idly.

"She certainly isn't complaining about all this space," Woody answered, and turned his eyes up to the crystal chandelier. "Andy sure did okay." He looked at Slinky, who spoke with Bullseye. Both of them were wagging their tails. Then Slinky turned and called, "Hey, Woody! Buzz! Get over here a second!"

They obliged, approaching their friends. "What's going on?" Woody asked.

" 'Member how you said Sunnyside was a nicer place?" Rex asked Buzz.

"Yes."

"Maybe we should just...live there," Rex continued. "All of us. With Ken, Barbie, Jessica - "

"And I happen to think that even the Prospector would love it there," Mr. Potato Head cut in. "Why, I believe the Caterpillar Room is perfect for him!"

"You know, I could not agree more," Woody answered. He looked at the nearest Elite Brigade. "You guys want to come with us?"

He saluted him, and the simple gesture made Woody's thoughts turn quickly to the green army men they had known twenty-seven years ago. It saddened him to realize how long it had been since he had remembered them. Bo had been gone even longer, and yet not a day went by...

He pushed her out of his mind. "Perfect. I'll extend the invitation right now." He turned and walked toward the hall, with Jessie looking at him in worry.

Wandering down the hallway, he called for him. "Prospector? Hey, you still here?"

There was no response. It was when he was walking past the bathroom that Stinky Pete lunged at him, hooking his pickaxe around his neck. Woody made a surprised noise, putting his hands on the handle. "Don't move," Stinky Pete ordered.

Woody went still. "Look, I'm not here to make trouble. I was actually going to invite you along."

"Why would I want to go anywhere with you?"

"It wouldn't be just me! Jessie's coming, too."

"Which one? My Jessie? Or the garbage one?"

In the kitchen, Jessica froze at his words.

"She's not garbage! She's a good friend! Every bit as good as - as - "

"Go on, Woody. Say it. The good Jessie."

"The old Jessie!" Woody yelled. "And I was trying to offer a truce. You could be played with by kids all day long, five days a week!"

Stinky Pete continued to pull on the pickaxe as he walked, forcing Woody to stumble backwards after him. "Why would you offer a truce?"

"I thought if you had purpose again, you might be more pleasant!"

Buzz came charging around the corner just as Stinky Pete released Woody, who got to his feet. "Though on second thought, you might not be suitable for children," he grumbled. "I don't know why Andy hasn't just fed you to the dogs!"

His words triggered another memory for Jessica, who put her hands over her ears and leaned against the wall, trying to block it out.

"I was trying to be nice," Woody continued. "There was no need to raise a weapon."

"I was finally in that museum," Stinky Pete snapped. "Finally, after so long...I didn't even want to be taken out of that case."

"Well, how was Andy supposed to know that?" Woody asked.

"I wish he had."

"We all wish he had," Woody retorted.

Buzz put a hand on each of them, keeping them apart. "This invitation is cancelled."

"You won't hear me complaining," Stinky Pete said. "But mark my words, Woody, I will get even. For all you've done to me, I'll put you in worse condition than that garbage toy."

Suddenly Daniel's hand engulfed him, rendering him immediately powerless as he lifted him into the air. The pickaxe clattered to the floor. "Put me down! This will not stand!" Stinky Pete yelled.

"Nobody's stopping me." Daniel carried him into the kitchen and stopped near the sink. He opened a cupboard underneath, revealing a trash compactor. Ignoring his screams, Daniel tossed him in and quickly closed the cupboard before he could jump out.

Then he turned. "Anyone have any objections?"

Jessie looked at Woody, then back at the trash compactor.

"No."

Daniel pushed the button, and a loud whirring noise drowned out Stinky Pete's screams. When the noise ended, all was silent.

Feeling a little overwhelmed, Woody bent and picked up the pickaxe, then walked over to Daniel, who took it from him. "You probably don't want to look in there," Daniel told the toys. He opened the compactor and threw the pickaxe inside.

As he took out the garbage, Jessie and Woody approached one another. "Are you okay?" she asked him.

"Yeah. I am...What about you?"

Her hesitation was only brief. "I think so."

Her eyes moved past his shoulder, and he turned to see Jessica slumped at the wall, her head on her knees. It looked like she was crying.

Woody realized his error. "Oh, no."

"What?" Buzz asked.

He ignored him, running awkwardly to the miserable toy. "Jessica, I am so, so sorry." He knelt and put a hand on her shoulder.

She slapped him away like he was a disgusting spider, then got to her feet. Her good eye glared at all the toys. "You're all monsters," she said roughly. "I can't believe how awful you are."

"Me? What - what did I do this time?" Woody asked.

"You let him. He tore that toy apart and you let him." Her eyes never left his, but her words were directed at all the toys.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I forgot..."

"You just didn't care." With a glower contorting the functional side of her face, she pushed on his chest and walked out into the hall.

The toys were silent for a few seconds.

"She knew a Prospector, didn't she?" Buzz asked.

"Yeah," Woody muttered.

The toys, Janey and Andy all looked at Daniel.

"Hey, you had the chance to save him," he reminded them. "What I did saved you."

Woody looked away, and his eyes found Jessica. She stood in the hall, staring up at the doorknob. As he walked toward her, she hesitantly picked up the hanger and jumped, but she was just a little too short. She landed awkwardly on her newly attached legs, catching her balance before trying and failing again.

"I said I could help you."

"I'll never learn for myself if you do everything for me," she snapped. Her voice was an emotionless void once again.

"You're too short; you need my help."

"I'm fine, just back off!" Again, she tried, and again she failed. Suddenly Janey skirted around Woody and pulled open the door just a crack. Jessica looked up at her, gave a curt nod, and squeezed through the gap. Janey closed the door.

Jessica only took a few steps before a car blew past. Then another. She came to a halt, watching as a third vehicle, a big logging truck, trundled slowly and dominantly down the lane. She stared up at it, backing slowly toward the Davis' house. When the leaves touched her head, she stepped gratefully into its concealment and sat on the grass; wishing she had left the minute she could walk again.

Putting her head on her knees again, she thought about the Prospector from her past. 


	5. Chapter 5

Jessica didn't move until she heard a front door open.

"She could be anywhere by now," Slink's guttural voice said.

"She couldn't have gotten far," Woody answered.

"You're thinkin' pre-op," Mr. Potato Head cut in.

"No! I saw her. She wouldn't even cross the street." Suddenly Woody's hand intercepted the leaves and pulled back a handful, and the pair peered at one another. "I thought so."

"Why do you care?" she growled.

"We're all going to Sunnyside now. If you want a ride, it's your last chance," Hamm told her.

Woody stepped back as she begrudgingly climbed out of the foliage. The sky was dark, and the night was dimly lit with a fading sunset. The sky was amazingly clear and a wind lifted her stray hairs, making her glad she couldn't feel the cold on her porcelain skin.

"Look...What that human did was awful. I know that," Woody said. "But if he hadn't done it, I'd have to sleep with one eye open. He knew where we were going!"

"And that much is your fault," Jessica told him.

"Do you know what he did to me?"

"I don't care! What you did was far worse. Letting him be ripped apart, like it was nothing, like...like it wouldn't have mattered if it was the machine or your own two hands!" She stared incredulously at all of them, secretly satisfied when they reacted to her words. "You should be ashamed of yourselves! Why would I go anywhere with you?"

"What else do you have?" Rex asked.

Jessica rounded on him. "You especially. I hate you! I've known you less than a day and I literally despise you."

He cowered in fear, while Buzz watched her in detached amazement. Would all toys eventually face the same emotional destruction?

"Jessica, please. You've been in a box for forty-three years; the world's changed. It's scary! Even for us, but you..." Woody's words ran out.

The toys were all staring at her again. She averted her eyes, glowering at the car tires.

"You asked for my help," Woody finally said.

"That was before." She turned and walked a few feet, coming to a dead stop when a car zoomed past.

"Preach independence all you want, but it's not gonna aid you a smidge if you can't even cross the street on your own," Mr. Potato Head told her.

Jessica whirled. "I can cross the street!"

"Then go ahead," Mr. Potato Head baited.

She didn't move, except to evade his eyes.

"Or...go back to storage where you belong," he added, and hoisted himself up onto the car floor.

The other toys stood where they were, watching as Jessica slowly stepped off the grass and onto the pavement. She took a few steps, looking both ways.

"CAARRRR!" Mr. Potato Head suddenly hollered, and Jessica hurried back toward them, stopping when all was silent. His chuckles made her blood boil. She stormed toward him, ready to disassemble him.

Woody stepped in front of her. "No, wait. Michigan is a big place, and we're all - "

"Michigan," she hissed. "I'm in Michigan?"

"Yes..."

She turned, craning her head up to look at the towering street sign. Then, suddenly, she began to run across the sidewalk.

"JESSIE!" Woody yelled, startling all of them. She came to a stop and turned to look back at him. Remembering what she was, she looked at all the houses in the neighborhood before slowly retracing her steps to him. "Like we said, you're safe with us. But if you get reckless and risk getting caught, it's on every toy," he reprimanded. "Wherever you're going, Andy can get you there safer. And faster," he added, and she was quick to reconsider.

That was how, a few seconds later, Jessica found herself hoisting herself up onto the car floor beside the other toys. After his friends helped pull Rex aboard, Andy shut the car door and got into the driver's seat. "So where to?"

Jessica slumped anxiously against the seat. "Woodward Avenue!"

"Do you have any idea where that is?" Andy asked.

"Yeah."

"Come up here and navigate."

Jessica obliged, sitting atop the headrest of the passenger seat so she could see the road. It only took a few minutes, and her face lit with joy as she read the street sign. Andy drove slowly until she told him to stop, and she opened the car door, dropping out onto the curb. Looking up at her old home, she walked slowly toward the old, small and cozy building.

"The yard is bigger than the house!" Mr. Potato Head observed.

The other toys ignored him. Their attention was focused on Jessica, as she made her way carefully through the quiet yard.

As she walked, she looked down at herself. The grass was wet, and being half her height it was seeping through her clothing. Pushing through the blades she stepped onto a rock near the window, grabbed onto the windowsill and hoisted herself up close to the ledge, peering inside. The room was dimly lit with a lamp, but forty-three years had changed a lot. Nothing was familiar, except her own reflection.

She dropped to the grass and had to catch her balance before she could continue exploring the property. She clung to a tree as a neighbor drove out of his garage and paused to close the garage door before driving away. When the coast was clear she released the tree and walked beside her old house.

The patch of dirt swung around the smaller tree in the exact shape she remembered, and she dropped to her knees and sank her porcelain fingers into the dirt.

The Prospector's hat was the first thing she unearthed, and she grabbed it like a lifeline, throwing it beside her and greedily continuing to claw the ground. When her fingers touched cloth she buried her fingers into the cold, soft dirt and seized his muddy arm.

He was pinned there, but her bottomless determination eventually won and she was able to yank him from the clutches of a tangled mess of roots. He was as unresponsive as if she were a human. He stared at the dark night sky with the lifeless look of the unsouled. There was no smile on his face, no sparkle in his eye. Not even the kind with which he was manufactured.

She shook him. "Prospector, it's me! It's Jessie!"

Nothing. No response. From behind she heard the familiar clump of cowtoy boots.

"Prospector?"

No answer. She looked up at her less worn mirror image. "He's not responding."

"Talk to him anyway," Jessie advised. "He can't die; he's wool."

Jessica leaned closer to the Prospector, putting a hand on his cheek and turning his head so he faced her. "Sorry I took so long getting back. Stuff happened...a lot of stuff. Hey, you there?"

Woody came up from behind Jessie. "Come on, cowgirls, it's getting late."

"I just got here. Back off," came Jessica's sharp response. She dusted the Prospector off. "Hey - "

"Don't bother. He's gone."

"What do you mean?" Jessica asked.

"I mean, he lost whatever it is that makes us toys alive."

"That can happen?" Jessie gasped.

"Yeah."

"Can he...can he come back?" Jessica asked.

Woody didn't answer. He couldn't.

So Jessie filled the awkward void. "Wh-what makes us alive?"

Woody offered his hand to Jessica. "Will, I guess," he said, as Jessica reluctantly let him help her to her feet.

The trio made their way back to the waiting car, and Jessica hesitated only a moment before getting in. They were making their way toward Sunnyside when she broke down, falling against the car door and covering her eyes with both hands. "He was so good," she wept.

Woody sat next to her. "What was he like?" he asked gently.

She lifted her head. "He was like you."

The toys were quiet. Each of the Davis-Anderson toys knew how creepy Jessica was, but with the street lights flashing through the dark car it only increased the effect.

"It'll be alright, darling," Mrs. Potato Head tried to comfort her. "He's your friend - "

"It won't be alright, you don't understand..." Jessica paused, trying to get her shaking voice under control. Finally she had the strength to go on. "I buried him there."

Whats and whys swept through her captive audience.

"Well, I - I dug the hole and insisted he go in. I was trying to protect him...I told him, promised him, that I'd be right back." Her faraway look hardened and her voice became cruel, "But this group of teenagers found me and abused me. They burned my eye away and threw me into the neighbor's yard and his dog...came at me." Her good eye found Woody. "My Woody helped me get away. But the dog got him. I watched from my hiding place as he got ripped to shreds."

Woody exchanged a grim glance with his friends.

"Why would they do that?" Buzz asked.

Jessica shrugged. "They were just killing some time."

The lights came back onto her face and stayed there as Andy slowed to a stop, and Woody looked up ahead to see a red traffic light.

"It's alright now. You're safe," Buzz's voice brought Woody's attention back to their new acquaintance.

She stared eerily at him. "Don't lie to me," she said, and the car pulled forward and she was cast back into darkness. 


	6. Chapter 6

After saying their goodbyes to Andy one last time, the toys pushed their way through a leafy plant, through a gap in the fence and onto Sunnyside Daycare property. There were no ominous lights sweeping through the yard, checking for escaping prisoners. All the lights were turned off, and the yard was only lit by the moonlight. As one, the sixteen toys walked through the quiet yard. The last ones to enter looked behind them as Andy drove away.

Despite his own reassurance toward the other toys, Buzz looked around anxiously, half-expecting Lotso or one of his minions to appear. But, without hassle or hindrance, the toys made it to the back door just as it creaked slowly open. Barbie rounded the corner with a big grin, which dropped like a stone when she saw Jessica. She was just about to panic when she caught sight of Jessie.

Jessica watched shrewdly as Barbie relaxed. Yes, it was okay if a toy was damaged, as long as it was a toy she didn't know.

"Is there an opening in the butterfly room for my friend?" Woody asked.

"There are enough openings for all of you," Barbie answered.

The toys were unusually quiet as Jessica followed them down a spotless corridor. Then they made a left turn and walked maybe half the distance before turning right into a beautifully decorated room. Sloppy drawings, obviously created by children, hung lopsidedly along the pastel walls. Toys, toy boxes, and plastic mansions covered the floor and tables. Feeling like she was living in a dream, Jessica walked ahead of the group, her eyes taking in every drawing.

She hadn't seen a kid's drawing in forty-three years.

"What day of the week is it?" she asked.

"Thursday," all the other toys answered at once.

Jessica turned to face them. "If I get played with for one minute tomorrow, it'll be enough," she told them.

"In the meantime we have a lovely little repair spa through here! Follow me, please! Oh, I'm Tour Guide Barbie..." She stopped and turned, looking at Jessica. "Aren't you coming?"

"Why?" Jessica asked plaintively. "What can be repaired?"

Barbie was walking back to her. "Well, in essence, nothing, but you will definitely relax," she said, sounding much too perky.

Jessica looked at Woody and his customized roundup. Then, with a hesitant smile, she confided in Barbie. "I haven't felt this good in many years."

Barbie smiled back. "Well, we're here for you if you change your mind! Welcome to Sunnyside!"

As Barbie walked toward the mansion, Ken asked, "Does anyone need to leave the room?"

Buzz stepped forward without hesitation. "I would feel much safer with our new living arrangements if I saw to it myself that Lotso was gone. No offense," he said. "But we all know who you were."

Ken looked very offended. "Those days are over, Lightyear. But suit yourself. Give the key to Big Baby when you get back." He threw the key onto the carpet. Barbie gave a perky wave before they stepped into the plastic elevator. It lifted them up into the mansion and they were gone.

Buzz walked to the key and bent to retrieve it. Big Baby made a rather cute cooing noise as Buzz walked dutifully past him. He watched Buzz pull the door open enough to squeeze out into the hall.

His plastic boots clunked on the linoelum as he walked slowly down the hall. As he passed the familiar kitchen, he paused and retraced his steps. Peering inside he looked up at the glowing top, half-expecting to see the shapes of toys from within. But the machine was as abandoned as the rest of the room.

He continued to walk slowly through the halls.

-0-0-0-0-

Woody turned towards the spa. "Great. Now I'm nervous," he muttered to his friends. He walked forward and peered into the spa room. Stretch had her back to him as she worked quickly with all of her arms to putter around the room, putting stuff back where it belonged.

Turning, Woody looked quickly up at the dollhouse to see Ken peering at him from one of the highest windows. Ken grimaced before retreating into the darkness.

Woody shrugged it off and looked around the room for Jessica. He didn't find her, but he did see a pile of building blocks. He walked up to them, unable to take his eyes off of them.

Bo...

He sighed in sadness, but as he stared at the building blocks he became less and less sad. Anger took over his face and he kicked the tower down, scaring all his friends.

"Woody? What're you doin' back there?" Slink croaked, as he trotted up.

"Playing Jenga."

Slink observed the tower. "Yer not good at it."

"We can't change anything," Jessie said, as she retrieved some blocks. "We need to leave it the way the people left it."

Woody watched as she helped Mr. Potato Head and Rex restack the blocks, then he threw his arms into the air and walked away.

Jessie couldn't be sure, because he was muttering, but she thought he said something to the effect of, "Yeah, yeah...Buzz doesn't lose a girl; he gets another. Just my luck."

"What is your problem?" Jessie demanded.

"Ah...sorry, Jess. Buzz just got me all nervous when he mentioned Lotso." Woody waved it off and kept walking.

"Look on the bright side," Mrs. Potato Head said. "We're all getting played with tomorrow! By the kind children!"

"Yeah, that's true," Woody muttered. "Thanks, Mrs." He climbed up onto the chair, then onto the table. Sitting down on its polished surface he crisscrossed his legs and looked at the drawings scattered about the table. As Rex and Hamm walked by, Woody overheard Rex ask, "So before she met Mr. Potato Head, was she a Ms.?"

"No."

"But before they met she was single!"

Woody looked up at the interior door as it creaked open. Buzz squeezed in through the gap, offering the key to Big Baby, who took it from him and left, pulling the door shut and locking it from the other side.

Buzz approached Jessie. "The premises appear to be safe. WHOA!" he added, as she suddenly hugged him.

She pulled away just as fast, before he could even respond. "I love you."

He touched her cheek with the back of his fingers, but found he could not honestly return the sentiment. "I...like you very much."

She looked disappointed, but nodded and walked away. He looked at Jessica, who lurked behind the Dreamhouse, watching him with her creepy, unmatched eyes. "Blast," he muttered. He looked back at Jessie, who sat on the bookshelf and closed her eyes. Looking back at Jessica, he marched dutifully forward. Coming to stand behind the Dreamhouse he got right to the point. "Can you leave?"

"What?"

"You've got your legs, I'd like you to leave."

Jessica sneered, the sight of which would surely haunt him forever. "Make me, spacecase."

"Listen, I don't mean to be rude. But I can't look at my girlfriend anymore without seeing..." He ran out of words.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it!" She abandoned her place by the Dreamhouse, leaving him to stare at a blank wall.

Buzz shook his head, slumping against the wall with a soft clack.

Suddenly she materialized in front of him, and he looked up to see...Jessica.

"I just want to get played with," she said simply. "We have the same purpose. Sue me, for wanting to live up to it."

"I wasn't trying to be rude. This mirror image thing is just..."

"Disturbing?" she guessed.

"Well, uh...yeah."

"It's because of my eye, isn't it? How do you think I feel?" she inquired. "I can't even look in the mirror anymore." She stared at him, satisfied when he wouldn't meet her eyes. "Well, when you get damaged, you tell me how it feels."

She turned and walked away, and Buzz looked up at her messy, discolored braid; and the worn ribbon that somehow held it together.

Jessica stopped walking when she stood underneath a chair. Laying down on the floor, she closed her functional eye and tried to relax. 


	7. Chapter 7

Woody's final thought before bed was Bo. He dreamed of Bo. His first conscious thought was of Bo. It was almost a disappointment to see the back of Jessica's head when he opened his eyes. Beyond her, he could see the pastel interior of the Butterfly Room. He knew she wasn't there. He knew she never would be again. Unless...Perhaps...What if he could find her?

His morning thoughts were interrupted when Jessica rolled to face him. Her functional eye was closed.

And her damaged eye was totally missing.

The only thing in its place was a round, gaping hole.

Woody jerked into a sitting position, one hand reaching out for her shoulder. His whimper pulled her from the morning fog. Her functional eye opened. Seeing the horror on his face, she quickly sat up. Staring past him, she realized she could only see out of one eye.

Slowly, her hand lifted to her face. As Woody watched, she sank a finger into her empty socket. Grief twisted her face.

Laying a palm flat over her missing eye, she scrambled onto her hands and knees. Woody found the fallen eye before she did, and he picked it up in trembling hands. They stared at it.

"Gooooood morning!" Barbie practically cheered. "Rise and shine, my friends! The children will be here in five minutes!"

Jessica snatched her eye from Woody's cupped hands and stood, looking panicked. She whirled, and the toys all stopped and stared at her. She looked wildly from one toy to another, taking in each horrified face. Her anger resurfaced - why couldn't she be like any other toy? "Oh, don't look so surprised," she muttered. "This is going to happen to all of you."

She stomped away, holding up her eye near Buzz's face. Trying to hide his disgust, he pressed himself into the wall, letting her pass.

She nearly sprinted down the corridor, sliding to a stop when she came to the door. A hulking shadow was on the other side and she could hear the jingle of keys. She cast a quick look behind her, but the hall seemed much too long and didn't seem to offer a hiding place.

So she dropped to the floor and smiled like her world was still intact.

The door swung open and the man spotted Jessica right away. He bent, picking her up by the leg. Retrieving her eye he bumped the door closed and carried Jessica into the nearby bathroom. Opening up a pull-down door built into the wall he threw her and her eye down a long, vertical duct. She fell a long ways, bumping into the metal sides as she hurtled into the darkness. Her arms and legs flailed and the functional side of her face contorted in fear, but she forced herself not to scream.

Finally she landed on a KFC container sitting atop a stack of tissues. Her eye bounced off her head and disappeared somewhere in the materials beneath. Sobbing, she rolled off the food container and began to dig for her eye.

-0-0-0-0-

The toys were all inanimate when the monitor got to the Butterfly Room. He sat at his desk with a coffee and waited for the first parent to arrive.

It was a blue-eyed blond woman, with a little boy. "Afternoon, Eric!"

The man turned and smiled at the woman. "Hey, Molly - why, who's the wee little prince?"

"My son, Jason."

"Wow!"

"Yes, I know, it's been awhile." Molly blushed and set her son down, digging into her pocket. "Listen, he has asthma, so - please, just keep an eye on him; if he starts to panic just tell him to take this. And call me."

"Will do. But, uh...Why don't you just give him the inhaler?"

Molly raised her brows like he was stupid for asking. "The cap counts as a small piece. Oh," she turned back to face him. "He also has a cavity, so nothing sweet."

"Sure."

"Thanks, Eric. Back at three!"

Molly left, and Jason picked up Rex and began to play. As time passed, more parents dropped off their children; and each kid was gentle and kind to the toys. And as he was charging the aliens with invasion, Woody wondered where Jessica was and wished she'd stayed.

Seven wonderful hours passed before the humans had all left. When the door closed and locked, the toys slowly began to thaw.

"Where's your double?" Slink asked Jessie.

"No clue," Jessie answered, as she untied Bullseye's tail from a wagon.

"Eh, good riddance," Mr. Potato Head cut in. "She's rude anyway."

"Hmph. That's the potato callin' the cowgirl black," Hamm snorted.

"I'm not rude; I'm sarcastic. It's an art form."

Big Baby unlocked and opened the door and Woody carefully leaned out, looking both ways before stepping into the hall. He quietly wandered the corridors, but there was no sign of Jessica. The only thing he heard was the clock ticking away on the wall, close to the ceiling for some reason. Perhaps a really tall toddler attended the daycare?

"Jessica!" he called. "You still here?"

He walked a ways further, stopping when the toe of his boot landed on a strand of red wool. He looked up and found himself looking into the bathroom.

He crept inside, peering pessimistically for humans, perhaps a janitor staying in the building after hours to clean. He bent low, peering into the stalls, hoping to see her cow-patterned jeans rather than a human's shoes. He saw nothing. "Jess," he whispered fiercely. "Come on, let's...let's go back to the Butterfly Room."

She didn't answer. He peered out into the hallway and crept from the bathroom.

When he returned to the Butterfly Room, he hovered by the door and flagged his friends over.

"No luck?" Buzz called, as the toys approached.

"No, I can't find her anywhere."

"I'll help ya, Woody," Slink offered, tail wagging.

"Yeah, me too," Mr. Potato Head said. "I'll stay right here in case she comes back."

"Why am I not surprised?" Woody chuckled. He stepped back out into the hallway with Slink following close behind.

"So, which way'd'ja look?" Slink asked.

"Well, basically the only thing I haven't done is look down the trash chute."

The toys paused and looked at one another, then began to run for the bathroom.

Slink slid to a stop on the linoleum and watched as Woody began climbing the counter. Pulling himself up onto the flat surface he ran for the trash chute handle. His boot cuffed the lip of the counter and shortened his jump, able to grab onto the handle with just one hand.

Stretch appeared like a giant, shiny purple angel with six extra arms. "What're you doin'?"

"I need this open," Woody gasped, and dropped uselessly to the floor.

"Alright, alright, hang on...Don't get your belt in a knot." She moved stickily across the floor, walked up the wall and pulled the trash chute open. She stepped off onto the counter and left as Woody jumped onto the open lid and peered down the dark passage.

"Jessie?" he yelled, and his voice echoed.

There was only a brief pause. Suddenly her face appeared in the ray of light. "Woody! Please, help me!"

Woody looked at Slink. "Get that octopus thing back. Tell it we need the trash chute outside open!"

Slink ran across the floor, his paws sliding on the linoleum as he scrabbled around the corner.

"We'll get you out!" Woody yelled down the shaft.

Jessica watched from way down below as he disappeared. The door slammed shut with a thunderous racket that defeaned her as she was quickly cast back into utter and complete darkness. 


	8. Chapter 8

"Hey! Hey, purple thing!"

Stretch stopped and looked back at Slink. "My naaaame is Stretch," she corrected hotly. "Now watcha want?"

"Well, see, there's this friend of ours. Well, a friend of Woody's and mine. She's stuck in the trash chute, and - "

"Uh-uh, nope! I am not goin' all the way down there to play fetch."

"No, we just want you to open the trash chute outside," Woody said, as he ran awkwardly up behind Slink. "So she can get out!"

"Oh..." Stretch eyeballed them. "And why should I do you any more favors?"

"Please," Woody said. "She's already been through so much."

"An' if you recall, Woody and me and our friends were all in a Dumpster too, at one point," Slink butted in. "An' you gave Lotso eight helping hands. We just want to save a good toy from the same fate."

Stretch didn't look very apologetic, but she turned and began padding toward the door. "C'mon, follow me," she sighed.

Slink and Woody obliged. When Woody handed her the key, she crawled up the wall and unlocked the door like a pro, pulling it open. Woody opened it the rest of the way when it was out of her reach, and the trio ran outside. The sky was dark, and the full moon illuminated the clouds that framed it. The stars were wherever the clouds weren't. The parking lot was empty.

"Here, take this," Stretch ordered, and gave Woody the key. She climbed up the wall, latched onto the trash chute with three tentacles and wrenched it open.

Jessica whirled to face them. Joy lit her face and she quickly clambered over the garbage, one hand clenched into an unyielding fist. Sitting on the lid she hopped out onto the moist pavement. "Thank you!"

"Thank her," Woody said.

"What?" Jessica turned and her head whipped up as she caught sight of Stretch. "Uh...Thank you?"

"Yeah, yeah," Stretch grumbled, closing the trash chute. She flipped noisily to the pavement and walked away grumbling something about "last-minute errands".

"Thanks for freeing me," Jessica said, in the silence that followed Stretch's bitter departure. She looked at Slink. "You, too."

"Ah, I hardly did anythin'," he said modestly.

"Well, thanks anyway." The trio began meandering back toward the front door. "Nobody's ever rescued me before. Not the Prospector, not the Woody I grew up with. I never really needed saving." She cupped her fist with her open hand. "You saved me twice already...I can't thank you enough."

"Well, what are friends for?"

Slink disappeared inside, and Jessica hung back, averting her eyes. Woody dropped his hand from the side of the open door. "What's wrong?"

She looked up at him. "We are friends. But just us."

"What do you mean?"

Jessica took a deep breath. "The astronaut asked me to leave."

"What? Why would he - "

"He said I'm a distraction to his relationship," Jessica answered abruptly.

Woody's brows went up. "Buzz said that?"

"Yes."

"Well, we should go talk to him." Woody pushed the door open and began to walk in, but stopped when he realized she wasn't following. He turned. "You're not coming?"

She shook her head. "I tried to be mad, but I get it. I think I should just go."

" 'Kay, Jessica, we're not joined at the belt. I know you can go whenever you want, but I don't know if you can survive. I don't mean to be rude, but you're not exactly in like new condition," Woody pointed out, much to her dismay. "I worry about you! Potato Head wasn't wrong; you didn't even want to cross the street on your own. Now...Michigan has a lot of streets."

Jessica put her hands on her hips. "I know how to wait until it's safe," she told him. "How stupid do you think I am?"

"I don't think you're stupid. I think you're scared."

Jessica crossed her arms. "Do you think I can be fixed?"

"Well, yeah, I mean, by an expert."

"Then I don't want you or anyone else treating me any different."

The pair stared at each other, until Jessica finally turned and began to walk away. Woody wanted to call her back and protect her, but what she had said stopped him. So he backed into Sunnyside and pulled the door shut behind him. He returned to the Butterfly Room a few moments later, and walked dutifully toward Buzz. "Hey," he said angrily. "Jessica said you asked her to leave?"

The toys looked at Buzz in shock.

"I had to! She was a - "

"A distraction to your relationship," Woody filled in.

"Ouch," Hamm said.

"Now thanks to you she's out there." Woody motioned toward the window.

"What was her other option, Woody? To go to the Caterpillar Room? Be played with by one more kid before losing her head? The only other alternative was for Jessie and me to go there so she wouldn't have to." Buzz stopped as he realized that she had left not only for Jessie, but for him, even after he'd been so rude.

"Yup," was all Woody said. He handed the key to Big Baby and left Buzz standing there with a rather dumb look on his face.

-0-0-0-0-

"Why are you back? I ordered you to vacate the premises!" Buzz thundered.

"I don't take orders from anyone."

"Fine," Buzz muttered. "I'll get rid of you myself."

Jessica didn't shy away from his attack; she embraced it, boldly walking toward him. But he was too fast, and yanked her into a headlock; the force of which caused her other eye to fall out. He released her as she crumpled to the carpet, blindly feeling for her own body parts -

Consciousness hit Buzz like a weapon, and he lurched into a sitting position, horrified by the nightmares his own guilty conscience could create. He got to his feet and looked back at Jessie. She lay near him on the carpet, staring up at the ceiling, one hand absently toying with her braid. Woody was also awake, leaning against the wall and staring out the window.

Buzz walked toward Jessie. She rolled her head to look at him, and her expression hardened. She looked so much like Jessica that he stopped as if he had hit an invisible barrier. She got to her feet and walked away, slapping her hat on her head. Buzz looked at Woody, who still had his back to him.

Buzz walked over to Woody with a sigh. "What can I do?" he asked.

Woody's head turned in slight acknowledgement of his voice. "You forced her out; you invite her back. I don't think I need to point out the hypocrisy of your actions, considering how it was when we met."

"I know I was rude," Buzz began, and hedged on what to say next. "I'll look for her now."

"Good," Jessie muttered from somewhere behind him. "Go."

Buzz found her almost instantly, leaning on a chair leg with her arms crossed. He walked over to her. "You know...You know how I feel about you."

"Yeah. You like me a lot."

"That - that's not what I meant; it's just the only thing I could say. I mean, I saw her, and then you - "

"She IS me; we're the same."

Buzz shook his head slightly. "You're not," he muttered, and headed for the door. Big Baby made a noise that sounded more like a sigh than a coo, but dutifully opened the door. 


	9. Chapter 9

Buzz was accustomed to having both legs, so he moved much faster than Jessica; catching up to her in the parking lot. She sat near the chain link fence. The functional half of her face was almost as glazed over as the left side. Arms wrapped around her knees she stared up at the sky. When she saw movement she looked down, and with a start of surprise she realized she was happy to see Buzz so soon. She stood awkwardly, leaning on the fence for balance.

He slowed to a walk as he neared. "You have a strange way of going everywhere."

Jessica almost smiled. "I...need directions."

"Well, I can help with that. Walk straight, into the building; stay in the hallway until you reach room 17..."

"No, I'm not going back there," Jessica interrupted. "I was thrown away. I'm junk." She turned away from him, wrapping her arms around herself.

"You're not junk."

Jessica laughed, but it reflected no joy. It was cruel and empty. "You're probably right. I was probably disposed of because he was jealous of my good looks."

"Jessica - "

She held up her eyeball, effectively silencing him. He looked quickly away and was only able to look at her when she began to walk away. "Forget it. I'll just try to find it by accident."

"No," his sharp tone made her stop immediately. He sighed. "I'll walk with you."

"You don't even know where I'm going!"

"Then tell me."

Jessica turned and stared out past the fence. "I need to look for a repairman."

Buzz shook his head. "The only toy repair shop in town closed at seven."

"What time is it now?"

"About nine thirty. We can go first thing in the morning. In the meantime we should get some rest." He turned and began to walk toward the daycare, but her voice stopped him.

"I'm not going back in there. Unless," she added quickly, when he opened his mouth, "There's a place I can hide."

"There is."

He waited for her to approach him before walking dutifully toward the daycare. She trailed after him, pulling on her braid and looking nervously for any cars. They entered Sunnyside and stayed in the hallway until they reached room 17. Surprising her completely, Buzz kept going. She followed uncertainly, peering into the room until all she could see was the wall. Buzz led her to the doorway of room 16, where the unfamiliar toys were all in sorry states. Jessica walked past Buzz and entered the room, looking at each toy she passed and empathizing with complete understanding. Stopping in the middle, she spotted several toys crawling out from beneath a cabinet.

She looked at the doorway, but Buzz had already left.

A Peppermint Rose doll approached Jessie with a perplexed look on her tilted face. "I don't recall seeing you before...Are you that good at hiding?"

At the sight of the lovely toy, Jessica shyly covered the open hole where her eye should have been. "I...I just got here. And I won't be staying."

"Lucky you," a caustic grumble came from beside her. She looked to see a stationary rocking horse. "I'd love to move an inch!"

"I know how you feel," she began, and continued when he scoffed. "No, I do! Before I got here, my legs had been torn off. They were right there in my reach, but I didn't even have the needle and thread." She felt brave enough and compelled to take her hand from her eye, revealing it to him. "I envy you. My inability to move was not natural; I was meant to walk. You're whole."

His face softened a little at her words.

"So how long are you staying?" Peppermint Rose asked.

"One night; I need to find a repairman if I have any hopes of being played with again."

Sounds of agreement swept throughout the room. Jessica turned to look at the toys who had come from beneath the cabinet. "May I hide with you?"

They nodded in concord and she approached the cabinet. Dropping to her hands and knees she crawled beneath it. There wasn't enough room to stand, which suited her just fine. If a child came early, or if Buzz came late, she wanted to be as safe as possible.

Rolling over onto her side, she placed her eyeball on the floor and closed her right eye. Sleep was at first elusive, but when the Caterpillar Room grew quiet, and the other toys joined her under the cabinet; her dreams were filled with the gentle kindness of familiar brown eyes.

-0-0-0-0-

"Well, that was fast," Jessie observed, as Buzz came walking into Room 17. "Did you give up, or chicken out?"

"I found her in the parking lot and brought her back," Buzz answered.

"He did. I saw them walk by," Barbie intervened.

"You put them in the Caterpillar Room? Why would you do that?" Slinky asked.

"Yeah, what's wrong with ya?" Hamm added.

"Please, calm down," Buzz told them.

"I don't think you like her!" Mrs. Potato Head said. Her eyes went briefly to Jessie before she added to Buzz, "You hypocrite!"

"Would you just relax? It's weekend; it's fine," Woody hurled the words at her.

"In the morning I'm taking her across town to the repair store," Buzz continued. "She doesn't want to come back here."

"SHE doesn't want to?" Jessie asked quietly.

Buzz turned at her. He was all ready to tell her that the last thing he needed was her headache-inducing guilt trip for not returning a sentiment she should know he felt when he saw how miserable Bullseye looked. Checking himself he turned to face her and began walking. Snatching her hand he quietly guided her from the room.

Rex slowly exhaled and the Potato Heads thawed.

Standing with Buzz in the hallway Jessie pushed the door shut. She would grant him privacy, but he wasn't out of the woods.

"Well, contrary to recent speculations, I'm not a complete spacecase. I know why you're mad - I didn't say I love you. But I do, and you know it."

Jessie was not satisfied. "Really, Buzz? Because you rejected a toy identical to me when she needed a little compassion the most."

He stared at her, suddenly realizing the danger. "I...I don't know what to say. I wouldn't reject you."

"Why, because I don't creep you out?" she snapped. "It's nice to know how easily I can be replaced!"

"Easily? There were only three Jessie dolls ever made, and the other one's across the world!"

She rolled her eyes.

"Which is off-topic," Buzz amended. "The point is, I'm not as guilty as you think. When I first found her she told me to get lost. And I can only get as close to a Jessie doll as she allows." He looked knowingly into her startled green eyes. "Ask me why," he prodded.

"Why?"

"Because I respect the brand. It made a good first impression."

He finally coaxed a smile from her.

When they came back into Room 17 their arms were linked. "Oh, good, is the fight over?" Woody asked.

"Yeah, I can't stay mad at him," Jessie answered. "I like him a lot."

The toys all looked at one another in worry as Buzz made a face. Smiling, Jessie leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. His expression softened at her touch and he lay a hand atop hers.

-0-0-0-0-

The underside of the cabinet was still dark when Buzz came walking freely into the Caterpillar Room. He knelt and grabbed Jessica by the boot, giving it a shake. "Jess," he whispered.

He backed up as she crawled out, then lent a hand and helped her stand. "You ready?"

"Yeah."

They walked to the door and Buzz walked dutifully out of the room and into the hallway. Jessica turned, grabbing the door with her free hand. She looked up to see Peppermint Rose sitting up and stretching. Their gazes locked and Peppermint Rose waved. Jessica waved back and proceeded to pull the door shut.

Turning, she followed Buzz toward the exit. His friends waited in the hall.

"Bye, Jessica," Woody said, extending a hand. "Nice knowing you."

She clasped his hand, suddenly feeling awkward. The last time somebody had bid her goodbye, kindness had nothing to do with it.

She turned to face Jessie.

"I'll miss you," Jessie said simply. Then, completely surprising Jessica, she hugged her; and Jessica impulsively returned the embrace with her free hand. When they parted the rest of the goodbyes were said with kind reserve, and Buzz escorted Jessica down the hall. The entire daycare was quiet. Upon stepping outside Jessica looked up at the sky. Dawn was beginning to paint the horizon, and the moon was setting behind a dark mountain. She pushed the door shut and found herself eagerly following Buzz out of the daycare and toward her new life. 


	10. Chapter 10

That evening their journey finally came to an end. The Doll Hospital loomed before them.

"We're here," Buzz announced.

Jessica peered past the rock behind which they hid. Though it was dark, she could see the colors that lent the building its kid-friendly appearance. A Closed sign hung on the wall, but light came from within. "That's the place?"

"Affirmative. You're about to undergo a meticulous reparation stage that will be both beneficial and extremely tedious. I suggest you relax awhile first."

Jessica found that his words bothered her. "Will...will you stay with me?"

"Yeah, as long as you like." Finally, she was coming out of her shell.

She sat in the grass and he joined her. With nothing much to say, she rolled her eyeball between her hands. Buzz found it easier to look at the brick wall behind her. Holding it in the air she looked at him. "Wanna play ball?" she joked. He made a face and they were quiet again.

"I'm sorry I was rude," she finally said.

"No hard feelings. I understand."

She raised her brows at this like-new toy. "Really?"

"Yes. The other Jessie was trapped in a box for some time as well. Not even for half as long as you were, but she panics at the very mention of it. I can only imagine what you went through."

"Thank you," she said, and after a brief hesitation added, "I'm glad I met you. And despite the tedious and meticulous part, I'm looking forward to getting fixed."

"Well then, are you ready to get the tedious and meticulous part over with?"

Her answering grin touched only the right side of her face. She stood and crept up to the store, peering inside. The toy store was well lit, but quiet. Peering inside, she saw a middle-aged man with his back turned to her. He was sitting down, slumped close to his desk. It appeared he was doodling.

He'll never notice me, Jessica thought.

Not knowing what else to do, she knocked on the glass, then dropped to the cement, forcing herself to smile. Inside, the man turned to look at the door, but saw nobody. He turned back to his paper, and Jessica waited for what was surely ten seconds.

The store isn't that big, she thought. She lifted her head, but the top of the shelves and the ceiling were all she could see through the glass.

She got to her feet and looked at Buzz, who gazed back at her. She knocked again. This time when the man turned to look, she waved. His eyes found her and he squinted through his glasses. Getting up, he approached the door for a better look. Seeing a damaged toy looking up at him, he opened the door. "What on earth...?"

"Can you help me?" Jessica pleaded. "Can you fix me up?"

He knelt and she opened her hand, showing him her eye.

"Uh - I'm afraid you're too far gone, at least as far as my qualifications go." He shook his head. "Now I've seen it all."

The little toy looked so upset that he added, "Well, I'll do my best. Come in." He stepped back and she moved past his feet into the shop. "So, is...wh...Are all toys alive?"

"I've never met one that wasn't." I found one, she added silently, But he was a friend.

"Wow. Okay. Excuse me, just got to put you up high..." He picked her up and deposited her on the counter. "There you are. Now just sit back, and I'll see what I can do."

She lay down and focused on being still. The human was quiet as he worked. She felt him polish up her good eye, dust her cheeks with color, and he even cleaned her wool hair and replaced the ribbon. He made sure the buttons were nice and tight, repainted her boots, and fixed her nose.

But when he pulled open a drawer marked Spare Eyeballs, a disappointed look came over his face. He picked up the few that were in there and compared them to her good eye, then dumped the eyeballs back in the drawer. "Nope, sorry, that's all I can do for you. Unless you want this." He held up an eyeball half the size of her head.

"Nah, I'd always look surprised."

He threw it back in the drawer. "What I can do is fill it in."

She considered, then shook her head. "No," she murmured, "Just leave it."

"Sorry. Uh, I believe the closest repair shop with higher qualifications is located in Holland."

"How far away is that?"

"Two hours by car."

"Can you take me?"

He looked surprised. "Uh, that's four hours in total; I have work and home to see to. Besides, I don't drive."

Jessica tried not to let her disappointment make her come across as ungrateful. "Can you provide directions?" she asked.

Moments later she walked from the store and back to where Buzz waited, completely unaware that the store was being monitored by surveillance cameras.

Buzz looked surprised. "You're not done already, are you?"

"Yeah, that was all he could do," she sighed. "He said I could try Holland, but that's two hours away by car."

"Ouch."

"Um, what's a car, anyway?"

He looked surprised. "It's, uh, a mode of transportation. Humans sit in there and go places."

She nodded, then sighed. "Well...Sorry for taking you away from your friends." Before he could answer, she had suddenly picked up his hand. He felt an unexpected surge of guilt - they shouldn't be holding hands - he had a girlfriend -

"Do me a favor, give this to Woody to remember me by."

Suddenly he was holding her eyeball and she was walking away. He stared incredulously at her retreating back, noticing her brand new ribbon and clean wool hair.

All she needed was a hat and her eye.

"Jessica!" His voice stopped her. "Uh, please, keep it. If you're going everywhere, you might as well go to Holland."

She took it, greatly relieving him. She stared at it, disturbed to realize she had forgotten about her plans to travel the world. Alone. In her anger it had seemed conquerable, but now that Buzz had reached her destination and fulfilled her request, he would be leaving. She wouldn't have his company, or his help dodging cars, escaping dogs, and whatever else the crazy modern world could throw at her. Yet, she couldn't ask that he travel to Holland. He had already done more for her than she had for...anyone.

"Jess? You okay?"

She looked up. Her eye was wide. "Uh, I just...wish I was normal."

He nodded. "Take care," he muttered, and began to walk away.

She looked back down at her eyeball and gave it some quick thought. Everything she had gone through had been because she wanted to be repaired. She had lived through almost five decades, almost half a century, to get where she was. Her other alternative? To go back to Sunnyside and continue to fall apart until there was nothing left.

She curled her fingers around her eyeball and spoke to Buzz's waiting back. "'Bye, Buzz."

He continued to walk dutifully forward and she turned away from him, unable to watch him go. Carrying her eyeball she looked both ways before running across the crosswalk. Buzz turned and watched her familiar shape merge into the shadows of the night. Feeling like he had just left his Jessie behind, he begrudgingly turned and walked homeward.

-0-0-0-0-

Two hours by car. The terrain was mostly flat; a human in excellent shape might have been able to walk the distance in three hours. But for a toy?

Jessica was glad she couldn't feel literal pain. She moved forward, looking occasionally at the directions the shopkeeper had scribbled for her. Stopping behind a garbage can, Jessica peered up at the dark, starry sky. All was quiet, except for the barking of a dog somewhere behind the row of houses across the street to her left. Thankfully the houses all had a fenced yard in common. She waited for a yellow smart car to drive past, shining under the illumination of the street lamp before she abandoned her hiding place behind the garbage can, making a break for the one on the next property.

The motion detector light came on.

Jessica raced to the garbage can and peered past the dent, waiting to see if somebody would check. She waited until the light went out. Breathing a sigh of relief, she stepped over the lawn divider and ran to the next garbage can. While catching her breath, she put her hands on her knees and bowed her head; and there, on the grass, she saw a pale blue plastic cane near her foot. It was old and broken. Like me, she thought. But not for long. She stood tall and held her head high as she walked forward, ready to embrace her fate. Nothing would stop her from -

The sound of another car had her stop, dropping to the concrete with a smile that only touched her left eye. The car drove by, then came to a stop. The faint squeal of the brakes warned Jessica to remain still, and much too soon she heard footsteps approaching.

The women knelt and picked Jessica up. Her hazel eyes frowned as she realized the toy was not only clutching her eyeball, but...a map. She turned and walked quickly to the car, climbing in rambunctiously. "Take a look at this."

The man behind the wheel peered at the toy. "Was it made paralyzed?"

"Look at its hand," she ordered, and he looked down, turning it over in his fingers.

"Maybe it's a gag toy. You know, a broken doll walking itself to the toy store."

The woman looked closer at the map. "This is for the Doll Hospital."

"So?"

"So, it wasn't built until after Jessie dolls were made. These things are old...But these directions aren't." She looked at him as a second realization hit her. "And I didn't see her there earlier."

He considered her words, then made a motion with his hand. "Get in, you're letting out all the heat."

She sat properly and closed the door, and as he began to drive he asked, "So what, you think it's alive?"

"I'm saying it's...odd." She wouldn't meet his eyes; her cheeks were turning red.

"How do you even know what a Jessie doll is? Did I miss the ads every time?" he asked skeptically.

"I used to own one. Back in the day when...James was alive." She hated lying, but who would believe she, a successful banker, had an undying friendship with a furry monster?

But Jessica remembered the name. She didn't think too many people who knew a James also lost a Jessie doll, and her metaphorical heart began to soar when she realized she had been united with her owner. No longer able to maintain the facade, she lifted her head. "Mary?" 


	11. Chapter 11

Jessica stared at Mary, who stared along with her date back at her.

"Mary Gibbs?" Jessica asked again.

Mary thawed. "What was in that coffee?" she asked, and when she looked at the driver her voice went a few pitches higher. "Eyes on the road!" she shrieked, and he looked at the abandoned stretch of road ahead. Mary looked back at Jessica in amazement. "How...How do you know my name?"

"I remembered James," Jessica said simply.

"So...you were mine."

The man alternated between looking at them and looking at the road.

"Did James know a...little guy named Mike?" Jessica asked.

"Yes..."

"Was Mike, uh...missing an eye?"

"Yes!" Mary's enthusiasm faded. "Guess you are too. Looks like you've been through the shredder."

Jessica tried to understand the odd expression.

"I think I can fix you," Mary murmured, tilting Jessica from side to side.

"Really? I wanted to hear that for almost fifty years," Jessica answered, as Mary plopped her onto the dashboard.

The driver looked at Mary with raised eyebrows. "You told me you were thirty-four!"

Jessica's good eye went wide, going from one person to the next.

He put on the brakes, stopping on the abandoned road. "Get out."

"What? Are you joking?"

"Liars don't hitch!"

Mary huffily let herself out, taking Jessica with her. She closed the car door and he sped away, turning at an intersection.

-0-0-0-0-

Daylight returned to Sunnyside long before Buzz did, but finally he trudged wearily into Room 17, sighing and leaning with a clatter against the wall.

"Buzz!" Woody's voice made him jump. "Hey, welcome back."

"Did I miss anything?"

"What about me?" Jessie asked, walking toward him.

"Of course." He took her hand, making her smile.

"You look beat-up," she observed.

"Oh, it was a long walk." He sank with a squeak of his armor to the floor, then grimaced and rubbed his knee. "Oh, that's not good. Think I might need to be greased." He stood up. "Hey, Stretch! Does the repair spa have any WD-40?"

Jessie's giggle was muffled as she followed him. Woody watched them go, a slight smile on his face. The sound of the daycare monitor suddenly arriving had the toys scattering to safety. Eric sat in his chair, putting his cup down on his desk, and his eyes roamed over the toys.

"It's Sunday," he suddenly called. "We all know I wouldn't be here if I didn't know your secret."

With his back to him, Woody thawed, looking surprised.

"You think I didn't notice, when a toy wasn't how a kid left it?" he continued. "I once got a Ken doll instead of my grape soda. I found a toy tied up and gagged inside a drawer; you think I didn't wonder what that was about? So let's just drop the pretense."

The room was quiet, until a creak shattered the stillness. Woody's eyes flashed over to see Stretch peering timidly out of the repair spa. Barbie sat up and Woody finally allowed himself to turn around.

"How'd'ja find out?" Slink asked, and Woody wanted to slap him with a newspaper.

"Friend told me. Showed me a video of..." He looked at Jessie and pointed. "Her."

Every toy looked at Jessie, who stared at the man. If toys had hearts, hers would have been pounding.

"Come on!" Buzz suddenly yelled, as he raced for the dor. "She could be in trouble!"

The toys ran after him. "All toys are in trouble, you lunatic!" Mr. Potato Head called, as he tailed Buzz.

The toys burst out into a miserable rain, stopping in the doorway.

"Oh," Mrs. Potato Head groaned. "It's time to get soggy."

"Okay, you stay here," Woody snapped. "Kick up your feet, relax, and have a lovely chat with Eric. Come on, Buzz." He stomped out into the rain, and Buzz shut his helmet, striding after him.

"Woody, wait," Buzz shouted, over a thunderclap. "It'll take all day and night. Again. That could be too long."

Woody looked at him, then turned his eyes to the daycare. "I've got an idea," he said, and ran back into the building. He disappeared into a nearby room, opening a toybox and disappearing from the waist up inside of it. When he emerged he set a toy plane and its remote control on the carpet. "Check the batteries," he ordered, and dove back into the toybox. He sifted quickly through the sea of toys, hearing the distinct whir of an engine behind him. Finding a remote controlled helicopter, he grabbed it and placed it on the floor, then dove in further looking for the remote control.

The lid fell on top of him, and his muffled yelp grabbed his friends' attention. Buzz went over to Woody's kicking legs and lifted the lid. Woody stood up and handed him the remote. "Battery compartment is empty, just a sec. Hold the top."

Buzz kept the toybox lid from closing again until Woody emerged with a pack of batteries.

"So we're flying there?" Rex asked.

"Flying where?" Jessie asked.

"This is nuts," Mr. Potato Head chimed in. He grabbed the batteries Woody handed him and put them into the compartment.

A honk distracted them, and they turned to see Jessie smiling at them from the top of a remote controlled monster truck. She leaned a little to give the remote to Mrs. Potato Head, who climbed inside. Her husband and alien babies climbed in after her, and the motor revved.

"Follow the helicopter," Woody commanded. "It's going to be a long trip!"

Slink jumped over the plane so that his slinky went in front of one wing and behind the other, and bit his own tail. Holding onto one of Slink's paws, Woody directed the plane into the air and through the open doorway. Standing near the outside door, Big Baby cocked his head to the side, cooing in wonder at their outrageous antics. He held the door open and watched the remote controlled vehicles and their toy passengers fly in single file into the oncoming storm.

Sitting in the box of the remote controlled monster truck, Bullseye lifted his head and looked at Jessie, who patted his nose. The toy helicopter zipped in front of them, and Slink looked down at the toy plane and toy truck that followed them. Moving in single file the toy vehicles jerked roughly offroad, sloshing through a mud puddle.

"Speed bump!" Mrs. Potato Head shouted, and Jessie's whoop of delight carried clear through the parking lot.

"I thought my flying days were over!" Woody shouted, as he steered the plane with one hand. Suddenly his hat flew off and floated gracefully, quietly - until it smacked into the blades of the plane. With a loud, horrible sound it was ripped in circles before smacking into Rex's face.

His whimper was muffled. Barbie lifted the hat and smiled at him.

Tied to the plane he controlled by a skipping rope he had cut and tied around his wings, Buzz looked through his helmet at the passing land below.

"Are we close?" Rex's voice carried to him on the wind.

"Nowhere near!" he shouted back.

Down below, Jessie looked down at the puddle forming in the box. She began kicking the barrier, until it fell open and allowed the water to drain. Coming up behind her, Hamm and Ken did the same thing. "Focus on the helicopter!" Hamm shouted, and Ken looked ahead. He yelped and pulled on the lever, swerving to narrowly miss a rock on the road. Up ahead, Jessie looked back at them, holding onto her flapping hat with both hands. When she turned to look ahead her wool braid fluttered wildly. Something about it made Ken chuckle.

Buzz lifted his eyes to the sky, which was slowly turning black. The early morning light was disappearing fast, replaced by sheet lightning that rumbled across the clouds. As Buzz continued to lead, with the two trucks following him as quickly as they were able, he couldn't deny he felt something would go horribly wrong. 


	12. Chapter 12

How was it possible for Woody to feel so airsick? He grimaced in irritation as rumble of thunder crashed through the air.

Buzz looked back at his friends for the millionth time, this time with some news. "We're getting close!" he shouted, "I recognize the houses! Woody! Start - " His helicopter was suddenly zapped by a nasty bolt of lightning, and he spiraled down.

"Buzz!" Jessie yelled, as Mrs. Potato Head reefed the lever back on her control, halting the RC. Jessie leaped to the ground as Buzz fell with a loud clatter to the pavement. "Buzz! Buzz, are you okay?"

"I'm fine - " He stopped speaking when he saw the lovely cowgirl doll looking at him. "Greetings!"

Jessie quirked a brow at him.

"I come in peace."

"Ugh, you've GOT to be kidding me," Woody groaned, as Ken looked on in confusion.

Buzz looked behind him and began fighting with the bonds that bound him to the helicopter. "Oh, no! We have to take shelter before the ship explodes!" He attempted to laser through the skipping rope. "Well? Either help me or take cover."

"Buzz," Jessie began. "You're not a Space Ranger."

"Of course I am," he answered, and tried feebly to rip the skipping rope in half to the chorus of thunder. "Blast! My laser must be low."

Jessie rolled her eyes. "This is where most of your boyfriend baggage is."

"Guys!" Jessica yelled, running across the sidewalk. She hopped off and ran into the street. "Come on, get off the road."

"I'm trying!" Buzz shouted, struggling with the skipping rope. "Somebody help me, before the wreckage combusts! We must warn the Martians of the potential tragedy!"

"Buzz!" Jessie knelt on the wet road. "Calm down. Look at your shoes."

"What?" He looked down at his feet, and she tilted his foot up so he could see the Andy's name written on his right foot. "What is this graffiti?"

She pushed on his left foot, revealing Bonnie's name. "You're a toy! And we're your friends!"

"That's preposterous!" he said accusingly, but still allowed her to help him to his feet.

"No! Look, see?" She turned and lifted a boot, showing him the name on the bottom.

"I don't understand!"

"It's a long story," Woody sighed.

"Sounds like it," Mary said, scaring them all. "Come on inside and...do whatever toys do." She reached for the car, but it lurched away and drove toward the house. Mary started to unravel the skipping rope off of Buzz, and then she collected the helicopter, carrying the other three RCs inside. Jessie pulled Buzz to his feet and the toys walked after Mary. Woody followed last, balancing three remote controls in his little hands.

Inside, Mary shut the door, watching the Potato Heads and the aliens get out of the car.

"Your owner? Well, that's pretty cool," Woody was telling Jessica.

Buzz scrutinized the two Jessie dolls. "Why are there two of you?" he asked Jessie.

"That's a short story," Mr. Potato Head jumped in. "They're the same model."

Jessica smiled at the toys. "I can't believe you flew here for me. It's incredible; I...Thank you."

"Yeah. Um...There's a little more to it than that," Mr. Potato Head answered.

"Like what?"

"Seems you were caught on camera," Hamm informed her.

"What?"

A clatter made them turn. Buzz was dropping stuff onto the floor.

"What kind of planet has gravity?" he was muttering. "Impossible."

"Buzz, Buzz, Buzz," Woody said, walking quickly to him. "Stop dropping the nice lady's things. Here, come over to the...contact panel and see if you can...view Earth-dwellers." He pushed Buzz toward the TV.

"And the number pad is efficient?" Buzz asked.

"Yep."

"Huh." Buzz picked up the remote control, turned on the TV and leaned forward, focusing on the News channel. "She seems to be speaking directly to me! Which button activates my transmitter?" He paused for a moment. "I have literally zero interest in this alien. Who gave her a broadcast in the first place?"

"What's wrong with him?" Jessica whispered to Woody.

"He got struck by lightning and now he thinks he's the real Buzz Lightyear."

Jessica looked cluelessly at him. "He's based off someone?"

Buzz changed the channel and was quiet, focusing intently on the program.

Mary watched Woody quickly working to change the batteries in the RCs. "You know, you're welcome to stay as long as you like," she told him. "You can rest."

"Thank you, I - we appreciate it," Woody answered.

Another rumble of thunder had Mary standing up. She went to the tall cabinet and took from a shelf a pack of candles, which she began to empty.

Suddenly Buzz began shouting into the remote. "Sector 4, this is Buzz Lightyear! Tune in to station 10. These half-wits clearly require training at the Academy."

"Who's Sector 4?" Mary asked.

"I don't know, but we all know who the half-wit is," Hamm answered, as Jessie walked toward Buzz. She turned back to glare at him before settling down next to Buzz. He tried to keep composed when he noticed the toy he was beginning to think he was made for.

"What academy?" she finally asked.

"Excuse me, cowgirl, I-I cannot divulge any information of the Space Ranger Corps."

"Because you can't remember anything about it?" she pressed.

He ignored her.

"Yeah...Didn't happen."

"Space Rangers have far too much integrity to be liars. All I can tell you is that as I was required to, I took an oath."

"Do you remember the oath?"

He finally looked at her and shook his head slightly. "You will not force my deception. Please, just pay attention to the console."

She shrugged it off and watched TV with him.

"Now there's an alien with a short attention span," Buzz observed, "He seems to have forgotten his broadcast!"

Rolling her eyes, Jessie got up and walked away, just wishing she could have her boyfriend back. She approached the others. "Is there any way we can prove he's a toy?" Jessie asked.

Woody looked up at Mary and smiled. "Do you have a computer?"

"Yeah."

"Great. Can you please research 'Buzz Lightyear action figure'? Jessie, you grab Buzz and follow us."

Jessie nodded curtly and hurried back to her boyfriend. "Hey, Buzz! We need to show you something."

He turned off the TV and followed Jessie, who followed Woody and Mary; who led all the toys down the hall, through double glass doors and into an attractive den. "You have a nice vessel," Buzz observed, as he stopped beside a mirror. He looked at his little reflection. "Do you find it adequate for your stature?"

Mary sighed as she began to type. "I wish your helmet was soundproof."

He looked at her in disgust. "I find that very offensive."

"Good." She pushed Enter and clicked on Images. "Okay, come up here...Tell us what you see." She plopped Buzz onto her desk in front of the keyboard, and he leaned back, squinting at the screen.

"I see I broke my oath before my memory was erased. I felt fine, coming to; tell me, does your planet emit an electromagnetic pulse?"

"Mmm...Let's try something else," Mary said, and clicked on All. She read aloud from the description. "'Buzz Lightyear is a children's toy, first sold at branches of Al's Toy Barn in 1995. The model was introduced with several features and made in Taiwan.'" She stopped reading.

"So? That proves nothing," Buzz said indignantly. He bent and grabbed an alien, which he lifted into the air like a trophy. "See this?" he demanded. "Do-you-see-this?"

Rex reached over and lifted up the lid on his arm, revealing MADE IN TAIWAN. "It's okay, Buzz; we're here for you! We always were. You've done some pretty great things."

"Ludicrous," Buzz bit quietly.

"Well, if it's so ludicrous, how come we know about Zurg?" Mr. Potato Head demanded.

Buzz gasped. "You know?"

Woody stepped in, "'As a member of the elite Universe Protection Unit of the Space Ranger Corps, I protect the galaxy from the threat of invasion from the Evil Emperor Zurg, sworn enemy of the Galactic Alliance!'"

Buzz gaped at them.

"It's okay," Woody said. "We're your friends."

Buzz nodded at him, squinting warily. "Time alone will tell me that."

"Our air isn't toxic, either," Jessie said gently. "We're not wearing helmets!"

His eyes passed slowly over each face. Hesitantly, he reached up and his finger paused over the button. Looking straight into Jessie's eyes, he pushed the button and the helmet snapped shut. He blinked a few times and then let out a big breath. "Incredible. So. I'm a...t-toy?" he stammered.

"We're all toys," Mr. Potato Head answered, and then on second thought jabbed a white thumb in Mary's direction. "'Cept for her."

"I-I don't know what to say," Buzz spluttered. "I feel so...useless!"

Rex looked down. "How do you think I feel?"

Buzz looked up at Mary. "So...what are you?"

"I'm an...Earth-dweller," she answered, and kneeling on the floor she offered her hand. "Welcome to my planet. I'm Mary."

Buzz reached out and shook her hand, and they smiled tentatively at each other. 


	13. Chapter 13

Jessica opened her functional eye. But still, she was blind. Wait...the floor was soft. Linoleum wasn't soft!

She closed her hands around something hard, but it easily bent, with a sudden snapping sound that startled her. "Woody?" she called, and her voice echoed.

No reply. All she could hear were her own breaths in the darkness. With a grunt of effort she rolled over and began to crawl through what felt like...garbage.

"Jessie," the Prospector's voice made her freeze. "I didn't bring you here to ignore me. I'm trying to make things right."

She didn't speak. She didn't move.

"You should know that I wanted better for you."

The garbage on which she sat suddenly shifted. "Let me help you up, Jessie. Take my hand."

She lifted her head, hoping to follow the sound of his voice to the light.

"I can't," she finally whispered.

The Prospector suddenly laughed, but it was hollow...evil. "Look at you, Jessica. You're where you belong now."

"Hey," the Prospector's voice was kind again. "I don't ever want to hear you speak that way to her."

"She's a clump of old parts and wool! She's worthless."

"Hey!" Jessica protested.

"What an ironic pity it is that your last name is Pride...You have nothing to be proud about."

"That's it. You and me."

Jessica withdrew as she heard the toys begin fighting. Turning, she crawled away; stopping only when a hand reached out from the rubble to grab hers. "You left me to rot underground!" the Prospector yelled. "You buried me and you left me!"

"Prospector, wait!"

"Now it's your turn!"

His hands grabbed onto her arms - and she came abruptly awake. The room was pitch black and she could still feel hands on her arms. Believing she was still in the trash chute surrounded by Prospectors, she wrestled with the toy. "No! You don't understand; don't do this!"

"Jessica! You're awake now," Woody hissed.

She tried to compose herself. "Why is it so dark?"

"The power went out," he grumbled.

"Jessica? You alright?" Hamm called.

"Yeah," she said sadly, wondering if toys could blush.

"Buzz, I-I don't want to step on one of you," Mary suddenly said. "Could you maybe find the candles?"

All eyes went to the glowing space toy, who stood and began walking. "Define candles."

"I'll help," Jessie said eagerly, lurching to her feet. She fell into step beside Buzz. "Stay very close to me, so I can see," she said dreamily.

"Alright," Buzz said impassively. They walked away, his plastic boots clinking on the linoleum. In the darkness, hearing the other toys settling down beside her, Jessica lay down and curled her fist, comforted by the round shape of her eyeball in her palm. She lay down and closed her right eye. Her effort to get back to sleep was interrupted by a rumble of thunder, growling menacingly...like a dog.

She sat up and wrapped her arms around her knees. As she stared into the distance, her shadow suddenly appeared, long and thin. As Buzz approached it grew shorter. His glowing legs stopped beside her and she slowly looked up at him.

He tried not to grimace. She looked bad enough in the daylight - which he knew sounded awful - but caught in his glow, he could see right into her empty eye socket. He could see the inside of her head, and the stitches that held the wool down. Against his wishes he felt his face contort in disdain. Why did her eyes have to be so big?

He set the lantern beside her and looked at the other toys. "Assemble here," he ordered, and the room was filled with the sound of collective toys' feet on the linoleum. Faces appeared. Looking down at Jessica Buzz realized he could not stand to look at the hole on her head any longer. "Uh, I'll just sit over there," he muttered, and walked a few steps further to take his place between Slink and Mrs. Potato Head.

"That's perfect. Thank you," Mary said.

A flashlight beam bobbed past the toys across from Woody and Jessica, stopped in front of Mary and rose into the air. "Here," Jessie's voice said.

"Aw, thank you." Suddenly the flashlight lifted quickly to a towering height. "Well, um...goodnight."

The sentiment was scattered sparsely in return, and the human's heavy footsteps retreated. Jessica placed her hands on the floor, feeling them grow less intense the further away she went. As Jessie's darkened figure passed by the lantern to loyally take her place near Buzz, Jessica felt Woody's hand bump into hers. Her eye quickly locked with both of his, and again she hoped toys couldn't blush...If they could he was able to see it now.

"Sorry," she mumbled, and her eye widened and shot back to him when his hand curled around hers.

"That's okay, Jess. G'night." He patted her hand and lay down, and her gaze swung to the softly illuminated faces around the lantern.

-0-0-0-0-

The candle had died out and all the lights were on, barely making a difference in the daylight. The rain still fell, and as Buzz came to he heard the hushed whispers of the strange toys who claimed to be his friends.

"Okay, Jess. -Ica," Woody hastily added, when both girls looked at him. "Have you ever flown before?"

"No." She looked at him like he was stupid. "I was in a box..."

Facing away from them, Buzz remained motionlessly on his side.

"Right. Well, it can be scary, but we've done it."

"Once," Mr. Potato Head scoffed.

"And," Woody said quickly, "We were successful, weren't we?"

"Be that as it may," Ken interjected, "Buzz shouldn't fly in his condition."

"Are you kidding? It's what every Buzz Lightyear wants to do," Mr. Potato Head answered.

"It could go to his head," Mrs. Potato Head tried to whisper.

"That's true. And let me tell you, when a Buzz Lightyear believes he's real, he's very stubborn," Woody said neutrally. "But have some faith! Remember who he is."

"We do. That's not the problem," Barbie said simply.

"Exactly. Like I was saying, he's indisposed," Ken continued. "You want to make a toy with amnesia try to pilot a helicopter? That's a horrible idea."

"Look, even if he thinks it is his first time flying, so what? He didn't have any experience yesterday, and he did just fine," Woody pointed out.

"Alright, fine. What about her?" Mr. Potato Head pointed at Jessica. "How'll she fly when she's fallin' apart?"

"She can ride in the car," Woody answered simply.

"Whoa, let me stop you right there, Woody," Jessica suddenly said, "I'm not going anywhere."

There was a moment of silence. "What?" Woody asked. "What do you mean?"

"I still need to be fixed!"

"Okay, okay, okay," Woody groaned hastily. "But we get on it, fast."

"What's your hurry, cowboy?" Hamm asked.

"Have you forgotten that the whole world knows our secret?" Woody hissed.

"Hey, I trust Mary a lot more than that daycare guy," Hamm answered.

"Yeah, we could all stay here," Barbie intervened.

"B-but what about Andy? And Bonnie?"

"What about 'em?" Slink asked.

"What about 'em? That's the importance you put on what they meant to us?" Woody asked incredulously.

"That part of our lives is over," Slink answered. "Bonnie sold us to Andy, Andy dropped us off at Sunnyside...Personally I don't see a problem in stayin'."

"Yeah. Who wants to live in a museum anyway?" Mr. Potato Head scoffed.

Jessica answered him. "I do."

All eyes went to her. She stood. "It sounds perfect. Fix me up, put me in a museum, I could be happy with that. Kids are...Kids are the worst."

"Not the kids at the daycare! You gotta give them a chance!" Woody insisted.

"Look at me, Woody," she murmured. "Maybe I gotta face the facts. Maybe I'm just...done."

"What!"

"I had my chance," she said quietly. "Maybe I shouldn't have even made it this far."

Woody stared at her for a moment. Then his brows came low. "I'll fix you up myself," he mumbled. "I know a thing or two about toy repair! You won't believe the things I've seen. And when I'm done, you can think with a clear head."

"You don't think my head is clear? I've been going back and forth on this for almost fifty years." She forced her voice to be cold and cruel, like when they first met. "What can you do for me now that a seamster could have done back then?"

"You're not lost anymore."

She gazed at him. "You're right, I'm not. I have my kid back. You can fly back to daycare if that's what you want. I'm done."

Woody turned and walked back toward the other toys, then stopped and turned back to face her. "I wanted better for you."

He turned and kept walking toward the remote-controlled vehicles, and she stared at his retreating back. Until Barbie was in her face. "You're being very selfish," Barbie snapped. "We flew all this way just for you, and if we hadn't, Buzz would be alright!"

"I didn't make you fly here. You chose to. And if you think I'm taking responsibility for a lightning strike, you can't leave fast enough."

Barbie withdrew, then stuck her nose in the air and walked away.

"I'm sorry, but uh, you're livin' on the impression that Mary wants to keep you," Hamm pointed out. "You gotta ask 'er."

Suddenly Mary let herself into the house, keys jingling. Her head swiveled to the majority of the toys. "You're leaving, huh?"

"Yes. Thanks for your hospitality." Woody tipped his hat as Buzz walked past him.

"Um, Mary?" Jessica asked, suddenly feeling timid. "Can I...stay here? With you?"

"You aren't going? After what they did for you?" Mary asked.

"I told them I wasn't staying," Jessica informed her. "They could have stayed home."

"Oh. Sure...You can stay."

"Thank you." Jessica looked at the toys, whom she approached. "Have a safe trip," she offered.

Woody glared at her. "If it wasn't for Buzz, you'd still be in a bush holding your legs in your arms," he snarled. "We'll give you five minutes if you change your mind. Come on, guys." He picked up his remote and walked outside, his toy helicopter dragging behind him.

"I should've said that; it's much better," Barbie said, as she followed.

Rex looked sadly at Jessica. "Um...'Bye, I guess." He walked stiffly after his friends.

Holding the doggy door open for the others, Woody gave Jessica one last glance. Then he ducked out and was gone.

In his absence Jessica suddenly felt alone and vulnerable. She looked up at Mary, who stared down at her. Finally she asked, "Do you...want to come see Mike and Sulley?"

Jessica pushed away her desire to visit the strange-looking monsters she had glimpsed so many years ago. Assessing her priorities she looked down at her eyeball. "Can you make me new again?" she asked softly.

"Um...No."

"Can you do anything to help me?"

Mary brightened. "My dad can!"

Jessica's metaphorical heart sank. She had almost been hoping Mary would say no again; now she had to choose between getting fixed and going with her friends. She sighed, trying to face the facts. If she went with the toys, she might not even last the trip. And even if she lasted, they might hit a bump and she could lose her eyeball forever!

She forced the functional side of her mouth into a smile. "Great."

"He's at work right now...If you like we can visit Mike and Sulley first."

Jessica nodded and stepped toward Mary's open hand, which gently closed around her little body. As Mary stood, lifting her high into the air, she looked up at her old owner. "Please...be careful with me."

Mary placed her other hand beneath Jessica's feet and loosened her grip. "Don't worry. I'll take care of you."

Jessica felt a rush of happiness at the words she had for so long ached to hear. As Mary carried her down the hall toward her bedroom she found herself sincerely hoping she was awake. 


	14. Chapter 14

Monsters Inc. was bright and alive, and Jessica leaned into the hand placed in front of her, staring at the room with a wide eye. All around her, monsters roamed free. The room was long, with an impossibly high ceiling. Monsters flew overhead. The voice of a female monster came over a megaphone to say, "MI is now in operation; make way for the creepy comedians."

Mary stopped as a group of monsters with happy faces came walking by. Each of them acknowledged Mary before sending a disturbed glance to the damaged doll in her hands, trying her best to return their faded grins.

Suddenly a distinct shout bounced through the large room, with a long echo. "Booooo! Overrrr heeeere!"

Mary carried Jessica to the odd pair of monsters who waved her over. Sulley bent, examining Jessica. "Hey, you alright?" he asked, in a heavy voice.

She nodded timidly, glad she didn't have a bladder.

"Jess, this is my good friend Sulley," Mary said. Sulley's first impulse was to reach out and offer her a handshake, but she was looking at his massive paw in obvious fear. He could crush her into oblivion with two fingers, and she knew it. He settled for giving her a huge friendly smile, feeling confused when she backed up on Mary's palm and almost fell off her hand.

"And this is my other friend Mike," Mary said, lowering Jessica a bit.

"Hello, pleased to meet you," Mike said, and when he stood on his tiptoes and offered his hand Jessica saw only a hand almost as little as hers, with short nails. She reached out and shook his hand, relieved when he was infinitely gentle.

"You too," Jessica said quietly, and he tried not to show his disappointment. Not even a broken doll feared him.

"So how does she know about us?" Sulley asked.

"SHE remembers you," Jessica muttered, wishing he would look into the eye she still had.

"Well, we're glad to have you," Mike said charismatically, "If you like we can take you on a tour."

"Uh, sure." Jessica smiled.

Mary began to walk after the monsters, always keeping one hand beneath Jessica's feet and the other hand protectively cupping her to keep her from falling. "Well, Mary," Mike said jauntily, "I am pleased to invite you - and your friend," he added falteringly, "To my wedding."

"Your w - congratulations!" Mary exclaimed.

"Mike made me the best man," Sulley boasted.

"Of course," Mike said.

"Thanks for thinking of me. I appreciate it," Mary answered, as Jessica's eye found the sign that read LAUGH FLOOR. "But I can't go."

"Why not?"

"Your world is bigger than I used to think. There are probably monsters who still think humans are toxic; the last thing I want is to ruin your wedding."

"It's a small wedding," Mike assured her. "It's just you, Sulley, me, Celia...my parents, her parents, all of our relatives and maybe some guys we knew at college!"

Jessica strained to keep looking at the LAUGH FLOOR sign as they walked beneath it towards the door. "I'd love to come. But it sounds like it could be a...disaster."

"Oh." Mike looked almost as hurt as he sounded. "Sure, I understand."

Mary wished her hands were free. "You know I wish you guys the best, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I know," Mike assured her. He was too little to open the door to the hallway, so Sullivan did, and the pair left the Laugh Floor. And, as the pair walked down the hallway, Sulley felt somebody looking at him. He looked slowly down at the toy, who stared at him with an eye that seemed to be judging him.

"What?" Sulley asked innocently.

But Jessica just averted her gaze with a scoff. Sulley frowned at her before Mary continued to follow Mike.

-0-0-0-0-

"And this door leads to the most historic room of Monsters Inc." Mike pushed the door open. "The simulator!"

Mary walked in first, allowing Jessica to stare at a worn and seemingly abandoned stage.

"This is where monsters of all shapes and sizes would come and perform for Mr. Waternoose and sometimes, even Dean Hardscrabble. They determined the future of the Scare Company and the power supply of the whole world for decades!"

Mary bent a little, examining some scratches on the stage floor. "How many decades?"

"Well...They were both about twenty years older than me, so...four?" Mike guessed.

Jessica pushed Mary's hand aside and stepped lightly onto the stage floor, wandering to a fat trail of green sludge. "What is this?" she asked in disgust.

"Slug slime."

She turned her wide eye to him. "How big was it?!"

Mike shrugged. "Monstrous."

"Yep. Lotta fond memories in this room." Sulley flicked a lightswitch, looking up when no lights came on. "Huh. Yep, I performed here once. Got a bunch of newbies."

"Yes, I remember," Mary said dryly. Sulley gave her a shy smile and she stroked his arm.

"One performance is a lotta memories?" Mike demanded. "Sul, college wasn't THAT long ago."

"You learned how to count in college?" Sulley asked innocently. "Well, maybe the school board let you in just - " A sudden scream silenced him, and all heads swiveled to the Dummy, who stiffly lay back down. Jessica grunted and stumbled as the mechanical blanket moved beneath her feet, and when she lost her balance and landed on the Dummy, it screamed again.

Mike shared a grimace with Sulley.

Jessica stood slowly, looking down at her feet. "What - "

Another scream had her nearly tumbling off the bed, but she landed on Sulley's giant, clawed fingers. With his other hand he punched the Off button to deactivate the machine. "What is that thing?" Jessica demanded.

"Just the...simulator," Sulley offered.

"The simulator?" Jessica asked, and she turned an angry eye to Mary's apologetic face. She looked wildly at Mike. "Let me see the settings," she demanded.

He pushed a button and pulled a panel open, and Jessica stared at the settings, which had been set to Medium.

Everyone stared at Jessica, who had seemingly frozen in Sulley's hand. Then, suddenly, she thawed again, stepping off onto the drawer beneath the bed and jumping to the floor. Scowling furiously she stomped past Mike, past Mary and began to cross the room.

"Jess, wait," Mary called.

"No, just leave me alone!"

Mary and the monsters watched her disappear into the shadows.

-0-0-0-0-

It's okay, Jessica told herself. Her dad can fix me.

She repeated those words to herself time after time as she walked quickly down the hallway, her arms wrapped around herself. It felt nice to be held, even if it was by herself. All that time in the box, feeling her own boot crammed beneath her head -

No. She wouldn't go there. She couldn't.

With her head down, she didn't see the door open a crack until she walked into it. Lifting her head, she blinked and looked into the gap between the door and the wall, peering into a washroom. She started to move around the door, stopping when she caught sight of her reflection at the bottom of a full-length mirror. Hesitantly, she moved toward the reflection; not wanting to look but unable to walk away.

Now the look on Buzz's face made sense. He had probably wished Jessie dolls had been made with smaller eyes.

Staring obsessively at the empty hole in her head where her eye should have been, she absent-mindedly pulled her braid over her shoulder and began to play with her hair. Her good eye flicked down the entwined wool, and an idea occurred to her.

She pulled off the ribbon and began to unbraid her hair, and when it was loose she rearranged the wool, allowing it to fall over her eye socket.

Finished, her functional eye widened. It was so easy to pretend that beneath her hanging hair, she was normal.

A creak made her spin to see Mike, and she relaxed. "Whoa. Hey, that looks different. It looks nice," Mike said, and then he wanted to slap himself for being insensitive. "Mary's waiting for you."

"I said I wanted to be alone."

"Here?"

His words made her remember that she was in a very strange place, and as her eye roamed the bathroom she suddenly began to look vulnerable. Realizing she was probably more scared to be in his world than he had been in the human world, Mike took a few steps forward and offered her his hand. "I'll walk with you."

Jessica stared at the monster's rather kind face. Deciding to trust Mary's judgment, she walked forward and reached for his outstretched hand. He closed it around hers and they began to retrace their steps to the simulator. As they walked, Jessica snuck glances at Mike. He was quiet, looking ahead and appearing content. Suddenly he looked at her and their eyes locked. Feeling rather awkward all of a sudden, they released each other. "Why don't you scare kids?" she grumped.

"I'm sorry?"

"What's the point of having a Scaring School if you're ashamed of what you are?"

"But I'm not."

"Then why don't you do it anymore?" she demanded, and when he was silent she continued. "Mary told me everything you did to become a Scarer. The Scare Games, the training, the door lab. It's like it was all for nothing."

They walked in silence for a few feet. "Mike," she finally said, and he looked tentatively at her. "You have no reason to be ashamed."

He stared at her, then asked, "Do you...want another minute or so?"

"No, I want to go home," she said flatly.

He guided her into the simulation room, where Mary and Sulley waited. Seeing them there they regrouped and began heading back to the Laugh Floor. Jessica followed, wishing she had gone with Woody and Buzz and the others when she'd had the chance.

"So are you sure you won't come?" Mike asked.

"Tape it for me, so I can go hundreds of times."

Jessica looked warily at the orange monster walking by.

"Hey, Mike," Sulley was saying, "Do you think toys in our world are alive?"

"Who cares? The real question is, what's in our closets?"

When they reached the Laugh Floor, and stopped at the open doorway leading to Mary's familiar bedroom, Jessica didn't wait to watch the monsters and Mary say their goodbyes. She ducked through the door and left the shadows of the closet, walking slowly into the bedroom.

When Mary reentered her bedroom the sound of her phone had her racing out of the room. All alone Jessica looked around the room, realizing she was the only toy. Moments later Mary came walking back in. "'Kay, my father's car won't start, so I have to pick him up from work." She picked up her purse.

"Can I come?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Mary," Jessica's voice halted her. "You have...blue fur on you."

Mary looked down at herself.

-0-0-0-0-

Mary had parked the car and shut off the ignition, and was starting to unbuckle when the sound of a zipper made her look down. Jessica had opened Mary's purse and was climbing into it. "You sure you want to do that?"

"There's a hole in your purse; I'll be fine." Jessica hunkered down and zipped the purse shut, pressing her functional eye against the tear in the fabric. Mary grabbed her purse and let herself out of the car, walking into the optometry. The only other person inside was sitting behind a desk, holding a file. She looked up at Mary over the brim of her lowered spectacles.

"Name, please," she said in a nasally voice.

"What? Uh, Mary. Gibbs."

"Oh, yes, Pete's daughter. Do you have an appointment?"

"Uh, actually I'm just here to pick him up," Mary informed her.

"Well, you'll have to wait. He should be ready in a few minutes." She nodded subtly to the washroom door. Then she clasped her hands, leaned forward and asked, "You want to know something crazy?"

"Um - "

"Toys are alive," she continued. "All of 'em."

"Really," Mary said sociably.

"Oh, indeed."

Suddenly Mary's purse unzipped and Jessica popped her head out of the lining. "Well, now I can look around!"

Mary touched the bottom of her purse to the carpet, allowing Jessica to climb out and place her feet gently on the floor. Leaving her eyeball in Mary's bag she walked boldly across the carpet. Mary looked back at the receptionist. "I kind of already knew."

"A lot of people know..."

Jessica paused beneath a chair and placed her little hand on one of the steel legs, her right eye staring widely at the Buzz Lightyear on the floor. His head was nearest to her, his helmet closed. As she squinted at him, she realized his helmet had a jagged hole, one of his wings had been snapped in half, and his arm had been twisted so that it bent the wrong way.

"Buzz!" she exclaimed, feeling a rush of emotion for him. She abandoned the chair and knelt by him, lifting the confused toy into a sitting position. "What happened to you?"

"Children," he said in distaste. "What happened to you?"

"Children!"

He nodded sympathetically.

"How did you get here?" she demanded.

"Uh, well, I...I used to be in the waiting room of a dentists' office in Australia; but one of the patients - a terrifying girl - stole me and brought me home. And then the family moved here," he said resolutely. "One day her parents found me and thought she stole me from here. They brought me here thinking they were doing the right thing. I haven't seen them since."

She tilted her head. "Fun story. But I'm serious."

"So am I."

She frowned at him, then suddenly grabbed his feet and lifted.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed, as the motion made him fall backward from the waist.

No names. His feet were spotless. She released his feet and he lifted himself into a sitting position. "How many of you are there?"

"Hundreds. Maybe millions." He shrugged at her shocked expression. "I'm a very common and popular toy."

Definitely a different model - he knew he was an action figure.

"Are you?"

The sudden and unclear question made Jessica squint at him. "What?"

"Are you popular?"

"Yes. But..." She tucked her hair behind her ear to reveal her empty eye socket. "I'm not common."

He crawled closer and sat on his feet, gently touching her left cheek. Her eye flew to both of his, and like he had discovered she was poisonous he suddenly leaped backward and froze with a fierce smile on his face. Then a hand closed around her and lifted her into the air. "I found her. It. I found it," she said hastily, placing her inside her purse. Jessica sank inside, lifting her fingers in a wave and seeing Buzz's eyes move subtly in response. She ducked into the bag and Mary finally turned. "Ready to go?"

"Yep, just gotta wait for the tow truck." Her father pushed the door open and Mary followed him outside as her purse seemed to zip itself shut.

"Dad?"

"Yeah."

"I found a rare toy, and it could use a little fixing up."

"Sure thing. I can do it tonight."

Alone in the darkness Jessica's hand fumbled for and then closed around her eyeball, and she tried to repress the hope she was beginning to feel. 


	15. Chapter 15

Flicking on the light Mr. Gibbs entered a room furnished only with desks, deposited Jessica on the nearest surface and kept going, stopping before a different toy. Jessica raised her head again, jealously watching him start the reparations.

She saw movement on one of the shelves behind the door, and looked at the colorful elf doll that put a finger to his lips. He was certainly enchanting, with a pointy green hat and equally pointy ears. His nose was rather big and pink, and he was dressed in a long green shirt with a belt, and red leggings.

How absurd. Why would he need a belt, when his tights were too snug to fall down? She observed the other toys that sparsely decorated the desks. There was a mermaid doll, who appeared to be glued to a mossy rock, a train set, a soft fairy, a plastic turtle, and in the closet there was a gigantic, plush golden bear.

A rattle made Jessica remember that she was in the open, in a room with a human; and she looked quickly, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw his back still faced her. She lay down and froze with a smile on her face, watching him while trying not to move her eyes. He raised something to his eyes and there was a flash, and he waited a few seconds before putting a glossy piece of paper on top of the desk. Then he dug into his pocket and dialed a number. "Hello, is this Karen? Hi. Yes. It's ready for pickup. Okay. 'Bye." He hung up and put his phone down, opening another drawer on the same desk and taking out a book, into which he stuck the glossy paper.

Then he put the book into the drawer, pushed it shut and picked up the toy, which he carried swiftly from the room.

Jessica sat, looking up at the elf doll. "Pickup? I don't understand."

"It's very simple," he said, in a lilting accent. "He fixes up old toys, makes 'em look all nice, and then they get donated to needy children."

That explained why Mr. Gibbs had seemed disappointed in his daughter when she said she was keeping her...

"Hi!" the mermaid said loudly, scaring Jessica. "I'm Cascadia! Who are you?"

"Jessie," she answered, after only a moment's hesitation.

"Nice to meet you. I'd get up to shake your hand, except I can't!" she giggled.

Jessica tried not to roll her eye.

"Is that a newcomer?" a female called from inside the closet. The bear's golden leg was pushed aside and a delicate porcelain figurine emerged. "Hello there. Jessie, is it? I'm Bo Peep." She motioned to the bear. "That's Sunny," she continued, and motioned to the elf doll, turtle and fairy, whom she introduced in turn. "That's Timmy, Poky, and Elaine."

"Nice to meet you," Jessica said, and looked at the train, whose headlight eyes blinked at her. "What's your name?"

His eyes flashed again. "Train," he said, speaking clearly as if she were stupid.

"Oh."

"Welcome to the repair room, Jessie," Bo Peep said cordially.

"Th-uh, thanks. Will...will he really fix me?"

The flawless toys smiled at her.

"He will indeed," Bo answered, as Timmy dropped to the floor with a soft thump. He walked across the room, opened the desk drawer and pulled out the book, which he placed on the stool beside the desk. Climbing up with a grunt of effort, he slapped the book onto the table and again pulled himself up onto the surface. Then he began walking back to Jessica, stepping over the narrow gaps between the desks.

Finally having arrived he spread the photo album before her. "This is me, before," he said. "There's Cascadia, Poky, those are some toys that're long gone..." He kept talking, showing her the before and after pictures of toys who had been rescued by Mr. Gibbs. "It doesn't matter how far gone you think you are. He's a master. Been doin' it ever since his ventriloquist doll got smashed."

"Ventriloquist doll?"

"He makes its mouth move and talks to himself," Sunny grumbled.

"Can the doll talk without his help?" Jessica asked.

"Yes. Just not onstage," Timmy answered.

Jessica looked at Train, who was still in the same spot. "Can he move without his help?"

"No."

Train tried to look at her, though he couldn't turn his head. "I'm an electric."

Jessica nodded, trying to understand.

"I've got to say, I've never seen your brand before," Cascadia told Jessica.

"I'm a rare toy," she replied.

"Oh? Well, you're lucky. Breaks my heart, knowing how easily I can be replaced."

"No toy should be rare, though; I mean, all kids should have the same opportunities," Jessica disagreed. "I think a neutral society would be a kinder one."

"Maybe...But I'd still like to feel special."

Bo stepped in. "You're going to a needy child. You'll feel special then."

"Hmm...I hope so."

"What does your shipping label say?" Timmy asked, examining Jessica.

"Oh - I'm not getting donated. My owner wants me back."

"Why?" Timmy blurted. "Does he still consider you a 'collectible'?"

"Well, no..."

"So he plays with you? Is that how you were damaged?"

"Timmy!" the fairy hissed.

"First of all, my owner is a she," Jessica said coldly. "And second, no. We just talk."

Suddenly all eyes were on her.

"You 'talk'?" Timmy demanded. "You betrayed every toy on the planet? For what?"

"That was not my fault!" Jessica defended, and then paused. "Well, technically it was. But - "

"Traitor!"

"It was an accident!"

"Great, that makes it better," Timmy snarled.

"Timmy," Bo cut in. "Everyone makes mistakes." She turned her blue eyes to Jessica. "Tell us what happened."

"I was...caught on surveillance cameras," Jessica mumbled.

"Well, that's not your fault! It could've happened to any one of us." The porcelain lady's eyes went briefly to the elf doll.

"Umm..." Jessica scrambled to her feet, thinking she would feel less vulnerable if she was standing. "Um, actually, Bo, it-it happened to all of us."

"All of us?" Train asked.

"Explain, please," Bo added.

Jessica took a deep breath and began telling them everything that had happened; starting with the long ago evening she had been brutally burned by the teenagers, and skipping to the part where Buzz and Woody had found her in the bush. As she was nearing the end of her story, the toys heard the front door open. The toys were suddenly quiet; as Jessica, Bo, and Timmy scrambled back to their places.

Mr. Gibbs pushed open the repair room door just as Bo pushed Sunny's leg down to conceal herself. The toys watched through unmoving eyes as Mr. Gibbs stopped in front of Jessica's desk.

He took her picture and stuck the photo into the album.

Then he turned off the light and was gone again; leaving the toys in a room lit only by the shafts of moonlight trying to creep in through the curtain.

"Guess he's done for the night," Sunny grumped.

"Sorry, Jessie. Maybe tomorrow," Bo called, and Jessica tried not to let her fear of the darkness get to her. She curled up in a ball and started counting from one.

-0-0-0-0-

Woody looked at Buzz, holding his flapping hat with both hands; the skipping rope tied securely under his arms.

"Buzz?" he yelled. "You alright?"

"Sure thing; I was built for this!" Buzz yelled back.

Down below, in the remote-controlled car, Jessie leaned over the roof, peering up at the sky as she trained her eyes consistently on her boyfriend's indistinct form. Well...the term boyfriend might not be correct anymore, she reminded herself. He wasn't himself. Figuratively speaking.

Bullseye and Ken shared the back of the car with her, but very little conversation had been made. Bullseye couldn't talk, and Jessie wouldn't. So Ken had given up, focusing his attention on the remote-controlled truck that trundled along beside them. Rex had snapped off his tail so that he would fit in the back of the other RC car. The tip of his tail stuck out of one of the windows. Hamm, driving the car, appeared to be singing, and Slink appeared to be telling him to shut up.

Ken, Jessie and Bullseye had the short end of the stick; the road was puddled, and the tires of the truck were almost as tall as the car in which they rode. They could easily get splashed in their faces. Their car, seating the Potato Heads and the aliens, was probably having the worst ride among them. The Potato Heads could be heard bickering over the whining hum of the tires, and Ken could easily see the aliens covering their ears. Woody was...well, it sounded like he was yelling something about airsick, whatever that was.

"Lower!" Buzz suddenly shouted, and the helicopters dropped a few feet as a flock of crows zipped overhead. The helicopter blades were probably all that stopped the birds from attacking the toys.

Finally the helicopters began lowering in altitude, and moments later the car and truck swerved into the parking lot of Sunnyside; parking beside the helicopters. The toys got out and regrouped.

"That was fun!" Barbie exclaimed. "I can't wait to go again!"

"I can," Ken disagreed. "No more mentions of flight until I'm in my Dreamhouse."

Barbie looked at him. "Our Dreamhouse."

The toys walked forth, dragging their means of transportation along behind them. As they neared the rainbow doors, they were suddenly opened. By a human.

Unable to do anything else, the toys froze in place.

"I knew I saw toy pilots!" the human cried out, and held the door open. "Come on in, welcome back. Hey, need a hand there? Allow me." He bent and collected the RCs. "Just tell me where they go!"

"Um...that room right there," Woody said falteringly. The human walked into the room, and the toys exchanged nervous glances, their eyes flying back up to the human as he returned.

"You don't seem too surprised about us," Mr. Potato Head grumped.

"Oh, I know all about you. Everyone does. Come on," he added, walking away, "We're having a meeting."

"A meet-a what-what did he say?" Slink blurted, as he scrabbled noisily on the linoleum after his friends.

When the toys followed the human into the Butterfly Room, it was exactly as the human had described. Humans of verying ages and toys were seated around the room, conversing. Out loud! Openly. To one another. The toys stopped, taking in the view.

Toys were coloring and playing blocks with children. The adults sat and chatted to the toys, who chatted right back...Ken moved quickly to catch Barbie as she swayed.

"A horsie!" a little girl said in delight. She picked up Bullseye and ran off with him.

"Oh, no," Jessie murmured, watching Stretch. She was stuck to the wall, taking blocks from the children and stacking them onto a tower, making it impossibly big. Jessie's eyes found Big Baby, who was watching a child do a handstand.

"Sarah! Sarah, look, there's cow-people!" A little girl knelt and grabbed Jessie and Woody. "Let's play!" She stood and ran to the girl who had taken Bullseye.

"This is an abomination," Ken growled, watching the chaos.

"I can't believe this is happening," Mrs. Potato Head added.

Buzz looked back and forth among the horrified toys who claimed to be his friends. "I don't understand! Could one of you explain what's going on?"

"Eh, sure. Come on, astro-boy," Hamm said, and he and Buzz stepped out of the room, as Rex watched a child snatch up the aliens. Not knowing what else to do, Rex walked forward, hoping a child would want to play with him. The children, however, ignored him; and he walked unnoticed through the crowd; finally sitting at a table with adults and other toys. Ken and Barbie joined him, and they listened to the discussion; hardly getting a word in edgewise.

Finally the daycare manager raised his voice. "People! It's nine o'clock. Go home."

A little boy looked carefully to make sure nobody was watching him before sticking Buzz into his backpack, and Woody raced across the table and jumped, latching onto the strap at the bottom.

The kid carried both of them out with him as he left.

-0-0-0-0-

As the boy walked down the hallway, Woody climbed up the backpack and sat on top. "Hey, parents," he said loudly, and five couples in the hallway all stopped to look at him. "Your boy's trying to steal my friend."

A woman walked closer and opened her son's backpack, giving her son a dirty look before retrieving Buzz. She grabbed Woody and set them both onto the floor. "Sorry. You're in big trouble, Jacob." She pushed her son toward the exit.

"Thanks, Sheriff," Buzz whispered, and they headed back toward the Butterfly Room. On the way there a woman emerged and stepped over them.

"See you tomorrow, guys," she said cheerfully.

"See ya," Buzz echoed dutifully, not even looking back. Woody slowly followed him into the room, hoping Jessica was safe.

As Buzz crossed the room, he looked over at the lovely cowgirl, whose relieved smile at the sight of him would have melted his heart, if only he had one... 


	16. Chapter 16

Jessica didn't realize how talented Mary's father was at toy repair until she entered the bedroom and passed by a full-length mirror. A colorful movement in her peripheral vision to her left made her stop and turn, only to find the living memory of who she was meant to be. A full head of red yarn hair, two big green eyes, and fully attached legs. No stuffing was poking out, no scratches marred her face. And finally, when someone spoke to her, they wouldn't be distracted by an empty eye socket; although her hair still flowed freely down her back and shoulders.

She looked normal, which of course made her sick with relief and dizzy with joy...although she would miss the toys from the repair room. Jessica climbed onto the bed and jumped up and down, trying to keep her laughter quiet as Mary and Mary's father were right in the next room. He had been invited to her place for lunch after dropping off Jessica. He was still in the dark about her secret, but even if he found out Jessica could not care. So many people knew already, it wasn't going to be a secret much longer; and anyway, Jessica would be delighted to get a chance to thank him personally.

Giggling breathlessly, Jessica fell back on the blankets and heard something crunch beneath her. Instantly concerned she jumped up and patted herself, but felt no fractures. She knelt and lifted back the fold of the blanket, sighing in relief when she saw a hard thing covered in buttons. Recognizing it as a 'contact panel' like the one the toys had watched, Jessica began to channel surf; stopping when she came across something that peaked her interest, even though the broadcast quality was absurd.

Behind her the closet door eventually creaked open, and Mike came walking in, with Sulley behind him.

Mike's voice scared her. "What are you watching?"

"I don't know. It's about a toy whose nose becomes longer if it lies." Jessica muted the television. "I'm glad mine doesn't do that...It must feel very strange."

Mike stared at her. "It's not real!"

Jessica just looked at him, not sure what to believe. On the one hand, Woody had seemed like a trustworthy toy. On the other, Mike seemed logical. The trouble was that everybody knew more than she did. For all she knew they were both trying to mislead her - and had probably been successful. Feeling very stupid and alone, Jessica returned her eyes to the low quality images on the screen.

With their backs turned to the door, none of them were aware of the beaten and battered Buzz Lightyear toy peering into the room. Able to only see the familiar silhouette of the cowgirl, he was smiling as he took two steps into the room. And then, as he spotted the huge, furry beast on the bed beside her, he stepped quickly behind the mostly shut bedroom door and remained very still, keeping his eyes trained on Jessie. She appeared in no immediate danger; in fact with the monster hidden behind the door, it was very easy to believe she was alone.

Buzz's eyes narrowed in anger, and he pushed the door open and strode into the room. "Jessie! What on earth are you doing?"

Jessica had spun at the familiarity of his voice, and she crawled to the edge of the bed to peer down at him. At the sight of her perfect face, his anger hedged. "Wait...who are you?"

She looked at his twisted arm and broken wing; then dropped down to the floor. "We met in a waiting room," she murmured.

"Alright. Now that that's settled...what's going on here!" he demanded. "Is that creature holding you hostage?"

"What? Don't be silly."

"I'm not being silly! That is a legitimate concern among toys."

Jessica's eyes narrowed. "Not in my house."

Buzz looked up at the huge, terrifying monster. His eyes swung back to Jessica. "So he caught you moving around?"

Jessica lifted her shoulders. "I wasn't trying to hide."

"I see."

Jessica didn't like his expression or his tone, and she made sure she met his anger with her own. "Is there some problem?"

"Jessie, you can't just trust everyone you meet."

"I don't!" She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Jeez, Buzz. I lived in a box for half a century and still, you know less than I do. Our secret's out, Buzz. The whole world knows about us."

"What? N-no, that's not possible."

A flash in her peripheral vision made her looked up at the television screen, on which suddenly appeared the words, BUZZ LIGHTYEAR OF STAR COMMAND. She shrugged again and jabbed a thumb in its direction. "Guess again."

Buzz turned his head to look at the TV, and slowly he walked toward it. "That's me!" he exclaimed, and then seconds later added, "And that's Zurg!"

The toys and monsters watched the broadcast in silence for several seconds.

"Blast," Buzz finally muttered, turning away in disgust. "Jessie, did you make this happen?"

"What?"

"You say you weren't trying to hide." Buzz turned back to face her. "Is this your fault?"

Jessica considered the security camera that had recorded her, and she bit her lip. "Well, I don't know, maybe," she muttered. At Buzz's reaction she hastily explained, "It was an accident, Buzz. The humans are the ones who caught me moving."

"So I can walk right out of this room and go talk to those humans?" Buzz demanded.

"Yeah."

"This is an outrage! Do you not know what you have done? You have betrayed every t..." His words ran out and he mulled it over. "Maybe it's a good thing. If Zurg is unaware he's a toy, he might actually be designing a weapon to annihilate the planet. If the humans knew, he could easily be stopped."

"Easily?" Mike asked. "Have you not considered there being more than one?"

Buzz paused.

"I don't see what all this fuss is about," Sulley broke in. "Who's afraid of a dude in a dress?"

Buzz looked at him. "You may be bigger than I am, but I am not interested in your opinion on the matter." He began walking to the door.

"Uh, should I be worried about this?" Jessica asked.

"You should be worried about everything," he responded without even looking over his shoulder. He strode from the room.

Sulley looked at Mike and raised his brows. "What a little jerk!"

Jessica looked up at him, then walked out of the room after Buzz. "Hey, wait a second," she called, and he stopped. "Maybe I can help, too. But I need to know more about this Zurg guy."

"Then use the computer," he said, without looking at her. "I'm mad at you."

"I thought you said this could be a good thing."

"Not entirely good," he answered cryptically. "Think it through, Jessie! We're little, easily taken apart, easily broken. Humans will not hesitate to manipulate us. Thanks to you, every toy on the planet is a potential target of slavery!"

He kept walking, and Jessica turned her back to him and returned to the bedroom. Looking up at the monsters, she asked, "Do either of you know how to use the computer?"

"I do," Mike answered, proudly raising a hand.

"I never could. They're too small," Sulley added.

Mike plopped down in the chair, swiveling to face her. "What do you need?"

"I need more information on Zurg."

"Coming right up." Mike turned to the computer and began tapping on the keyboard. Soon he began reading a result. "'Zurg is a villain in the animated cartoon Buzz Lightyear Of Star Command, in which the title character - '"

"Wait, why's the show name a different color?" Jessica cut in.

"It has its own page."

"Go there!" Jessica insisted.

Mike clicked on the link to Buzz Lightyear Of Star Command. "Okay. Laser, spaceship, robots..."

"Look, there's my name!" Jessica gasped.

"Yep, you're on the Internet too. But you don't have a part on the show."

"Then what does it say?"

Mike obediently clicked the link and cited what he saw. "'Jessie Pride is a cowgirl doll, featured in a show called Woody's Roundup, in which she stars alongside the title character. Woody and Jessie were manufactured, and are viewed, as siblings.'"

Jessica closed her eyes, trembling all over. "Does it...say anything about a toy called 'Pete the Prospector'?"

"Yeah, he was on the show, too."

"I know he was. Does it say anything else?" she asked, and held her breath.

"Uh..." Mike kept reading. "Yeah. It says he's viewed as your father."

Jessica's big, wide eyes shot up to meet Sulley's.

"What's wrong?" Sulley asked, causing Mike to turn in the chair to look down at her.

"I have to go," Jessica answered, in a strange voice. "I...See you later." She turned and walked slowly from the room.

Family...she had family. Or at least, as much family a toy could have.

She had to find him. She had to tell him...Her steps became quicker as her confidence grew, and she followed the voices to the kitchen. Buzz was hiding behind the wastebasket, and when both humans had their backs turned to him he ran to hide behind a bottle of liquid dish soap.

Jessica rolled her eyes and walked closer. "Mary?"

Mary and her father both turned. She was already looking at Jessie, and Mr. Gibbs jumped when he caught sight of her.

"Hey, Jess." Mary spared her father a quick glance before kneeling down. "What's up?"

"I...I have to go."

"Where?"

"Uh, Michigan." Jessica ducked her head, afraid to look at Mary. "I'm sorry."

Mary did not respond. Finally Jessica turned and walked away, not stopping, not looking back. She lifted the doggy door and slipped through to the other side. Buzz, seeing that both humans had seen her anyway, abandoned the dish soap and ran after her; his plastic boots clinking on the hardwood. As he stepped over the doggy door he heard Mr. Gibbs addressing Mary in a shocked voice. "What the devil is going on? You know I pulled out that toy's eyeballs..." His words faded as Buzz closed the doggy door and snapped his helmet shut before following Jessica out into a light rain.

"You know you won't make it."

"No, you wouldn't make it." Jessica whirled on him, her eyes green fire. "Do yourself a favor and let that old-timer fix you. But I'll make it just fine."

He withdrew at the quiet intensity of her cold voice, and she turned and walked boldly down the sidewalk, until a sudden thought struck her. She turned and looked back at Buzz, who hadn't moved and was still watching her. She approached him. "How did you get to Mary's house?"

"I broke into the doctor's car when he was at work."

"Why?" she asked flatly.

"Because I wanted to see you."

The toys stood in the rain, looking at each other and not knowing what to do next. Finally Buzz spoke again. "Well. You have your mission and I have mine."

"What's your mission?"

"Well, thanks to you...I have to recruit an army against Zurg. Toys, humans, anyone willing to listen."

"This again. Buzz, you know he's just a toy."

"But he might not!" Buzz thundered. "I didn't at first. I was convinced I was the real superhero, protecting the members of the Galactic Alliance. And Zurg might believe it's an actual organization that needs to be destroyed. Do you understand?"

"No."

"Zurg do not listen to other toys. If they meet, it is an entire army of toys whose only aspiration in life is to annihilate the entire planet. And I am not fighting a potential battle by myself. If there is a threat, I will not be unprepared. I will not be caught just because I was negligent like you were."

Jessie's wide, perfectly matching eyes narrowed angrily. "You'd be wise to remember, Mr. Lightyear, that it is because of my 'negligence' that you can even go on this mission."

That shut him up. Jessica, on the other hand, had one last thing to say.

"And you should be wise enough to already know that you'll need to place trust in the humans you want to draft. If you cannot trust them, then you WILL be unprepared."

Still, Buzz said nothing. Jessica turned and started walking into the oncoming storm. This time she was stopped from the external voice of someone calling out to her. "Jess!" Mary called, walking toward her. She had grabbed an umbrella and it bobbed above her, much too big for her little head. "We're only on the outskirts of Michigan, I can take you right now; I have to go that direction anyway."

"It's close?"

"Uh-huh. It's a one-time offer; I can't always be there for you. Life's not that easy."

Jessica spoke to Mary, but she was looking at Buzz.

"No it isn't."

Mary snatched Jessica up and walked toward the car; leaving Buzz to stand broken and alone in the rain. 


	17. Chapter 17

Jessica found she liked to sit near the window and watch the scenery pass by. So while conversation passed idly between Mary and her father, Jessica opened the window, wondered what air felt like, and thought about her own father; buried in the dirt for years, not knowing the time or day while she was stuck in a box in some storage room.

And she thought about how brutal it had been to listen to a different Prospector get ripped to shreds in some guy's trash compactor. Because his son, of all toys, had made it happen.

The conversation in the front had slowed down, and looking into the rearview mirror Jessica was shocked to see Mary's angry face looking back at her.

"What?" Jessica asked.

"Nothing." Mary turned on her signal and looked into the side mirror.

"I can see, Mary. I know you're mad."

"Fine, I am. I'm mad. Is that better?"

Jessica looked at the side back of Mr. Gibbs' head. "Mad at me? Why?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because you waited years and years for someone to say they'd take care of you, and someone finally says it and you take off the first chance you get."

"It's nothing personal," Jessica told her. "But there's this toy in Michigan and I just found out, he and I were made as siblings."

"So? You're just stuffing and stitches. Your whole purpose is to amuse the simple-minded."

"Oh, look, the new Dairy Queen is open," Mr. Gibbs had broken in. "Who wants a blizzard?"

The females ignored him. "I know I'm stuffing and stitches, but the facts are facts; the whole world sees us as brother and sister. And if that's how you feel, why do you care at all what I do?"

"Because you were my favorite toy growing up and I lost you."

"Well, maybe you should have taken care of me then."

"I didn't think I was throwing away a living thing!" Mary snapped, unable just to look Jessica in the face. "Nobody cares that you were made as siblings. It's all make-believe, just like your entire job."

Jessica's brows went up. "You don't even know my job," she said. Her voice, although shaking with anger, was quiet. She did not want to distract Mary; only speak with her.

"Jess. You're a doll."

"I'm a valuable collector's item. There were only two Jessies made in the world."

"What?"

"And there were only two Woody dolls. That's why I'm going. I need to be with what little is left of what I am."

Mary sighed, focusing on her driving and occasionally looking in the mirror at Jessica. Suddenly the windows began rolling up. "No. You're not going," Mary said, as Jessica tried and failed to roll the window back down. "I already lost you once."

"Let me out of the car, Mary."

"No."

Jessica looked at Mr. Gibbs, who had decided to say nothing. While looking at him Jessica caught sight of his open bag, pinched between the passenger seat and the passenger side door.

"Fine," Jessica sighed, trying to quickly plan her escape. "I'll just have to annoy you. Forever and ever and ever and ever. Until the sun stops setting and the moon stops rising. If that's what you want. Clearly I'm too little to fight my way out of this. Too little and too insignificant." She was pleased to see Mary's jaw set and her eyes flash. "Yup, I know when I'm beat." She sighed and got down from the side of the door, sitting behind Mary's chair away from her watchful eyes.

Within seconds Mary sighed. "What's she doing?" she muttered to her father.

Mr. Gibbs looked at Jessica. "Looks like she's trying to sleep."

"Good."

"Is it? Sounds like kidnapping to me."

"If I can't have kids, I'm going to be one of those crazy toy-collectors like Uncle Al."

"You don't want to be that way. You've got a good thing going, don't you make a mess out of your life now. I want to die knowin' you were good."

While they continued to chat, Jessica dropped to the carpeted floor of the car and pressed herself against the back of Mary's seat, looking up at Mr. Gibbs. When he wasn't looking she scurried to his bag and crawled in.

"It won't be so bad," Mary was saying. "When my collection starts growing she'll come to love it. And maybe in time...be able to forgive me for what I'm doing to her."

"Would that be enough? Think about what you're doing to yourself. You're imprisoning her, Mary; you're taking away her life. Again. Now, you're still young; can you really live with that?"

"Maybe. I'll find out."

Jessica rolled her eyes and pushed herself backward into the darkest corner of the bag. She left it open, as zipping it would make too much noise.

"Curse all this traffic," Mary grumbled. "If it was light we'd be there by now."

"I told you it could have waited. I'd'a been able to get home without insurance; I've had to do it before when my account was empty. And when I didn't know what a bank was." They shared a chuckle. "I can't believe that was almost eighty...Uh, Mary, I don't mean to scare you, but I can't see your doll."

Jessica lurched forward, poking her head close to the open air. "I'm still here," she grumbled. "Where else would I go?"

"Where DID you go?" Mary demanded. "Let me see you."

"I'm under your seat! I can't escape, just leave me alone."

There were two seconds of uncertain silence. Then Mr. Gibbs said, "Just let her have this alone time. You've still got the rest'a your life to be a crazy kidnapper."

"The word is collector, Dad. Like you!"

"No, not like me. I store them for work. You're crazy like your uncle, that's what you are. Worse. 'Cuz you know what you're doing."

Jessica could have kissed him. Which reminded her...

"Hey, I've got something to say," Jessica grumbled. "Thanks for fixing me, Mr. Gibbs."

"Oh. Uh. You're welcome," he stammered. "Uh, have a nice nap."

"Thanks."

Jessica said nothing more. She closed her eyes and tried not to dwell on the possibility of him reaching into the bag.

-0-0-0-0-

Jessica was jostled awake and then a car door slammed shut, and beyond the teeth-like chain of the zipper there was a thin vertical strip of scenery.

"This'll only take a minute. And don't bother Jessie. You never liked when Susan or I woke you."

"Fine. But she's under house arrest when I get home."

"For how long?"

"Forever. That's the beauty of it."

"Hear that? Hear how crazy you sound? Why don't you just adopt?"

"I...can't!"

"Why not?"

"Because." Mary sighed. "I went there to look at babies when I was considering adoption, but I came too often and stayed too long; they got a restraining order."

"Then get a pet. They're domestic; you're supposed to keep 'em."

"I don't want a pet! Hairballs, poop, fleas, worms. I'll start with Jessie and buy some more toys to keep her company."

"Fine, ruin her life. Mess yours up and disappoint me too, but don't you ever ask me to babysit; are we clear?"

"Yes."

The bag spun and Jessica hunkered down when Mary came into view. She didn't seem evil anymore, just sad, and sinking to desperate measures to keep herself happy. But it was still creepy, and Jessica still wanted to get away.

Mr. Gibbs carried his bag and, unknowingly, Jessica into the building and stopped at the other end of a tidy waiting room. "Darrell Gibbs, renewal," he stated. And reached into his bag. His hand patted Jessica several times, then he grabbed his information and withdrew his hand.

Jessica covered her eyes and tried not to panic.

Soon Mr. Gibbs reached back into the bag, and Jessica tensed, prepared to meet Mary's illogical anger. So she was surprised when she was set down on the pristine counter of an otherwise empty washroom. "What're you doin'?"

"I can't go with her. I have to find my friends!"

Mr. Gibbs nodded slowly at her. "Well..." he sighed. "This was our stop. If you have to leave, now's your only chance. We're headin' home."

Jessica nodded.

"I'll tell her when there's no sign of you."

"Thanks, Darrell. I'll never forget your kindness. If you ever come to Sunnyside Daycare, I still owe you two favors."

"I'm afraid I won't make it back, cowgirl."

Jessica stared into his sad eyes, seeing a truth she didn't want to acknowledge.

"Just the way it is," he said quietly.

Jessica didn't know how, but suddenly she felt cold. "Then tell me two things I can do."

He thought briefly. "Forgive my daughter. You don't have to go with her. But forgive her."

"Okay. I'll try," Jessica whispered emotionally.

"And...well, I can't think of a second thing, so just do something nice for someone else."

"Like what?"

"Anything. You said you'll never forget my kindness...Be that person for someone else."

"Okay..." Jessica nodded numbly. When he knelt she placed her little arms across his cheeks, kissing the one that touched hers. Then he stood and walked away, turning to look back at her one last time. They waved at each other and then he was gone; and finally Jessica broke down, sinking onto the counter and crying as though she could. 


	18. Chapter 18

Perched on the second story windowsill, Jessica peered out over the field. The grass waved in a light breeze, and there was more blue sky than there were clouds. Straight ahead there were distant mountains. To her left there were more communal buildings, and to her right there was a ditch, with shallow, slow-moving sludge.

Jessica stood and jumped into the grass, which all at once was taller than she was. Had she been wearing a hat, not even the top of it would have been visible. Turning left, Jessica pushed her way through the neglected blades, knowing her clothing was getting wet. She heard a quiet growl of thunder.

Then, suddenly the thunder sputtered and roared into mechanical life. Jessica didn't know what the noise was anymore; she just knew it was not thunder. And that it was coming closer. What she didn't know was the direction it was coming from.

Jessica stood in the tall grass, hands nervously entwined as she tried to locate the strange noise. All at once she didn't have to try. A moving thing appeared, ripping the grass into a bunch of pieces. Jessica's curse was muffled by the deafening roar as she ran as quickly as her legs would carry her. None too soon she popped out of the forest-like lawn, sprinting to a nearby patio and diving under the furniture. Not understanding what a lawn mower was, she wrapped her arms around her legs and looked at the man-propelled object with growing wonder.

The man would not come to the brickwork; he was loyally staying on the yard. Feeling a little safer Jessica crawled to the other side of the table and stood, allowing the furniture to hide her from him.

It seemed he did not like living things.

Jessica ran alongside the building, where she came to an abrupt stop at the small cluster of people standing outside of the insurance building. They looked at her but continued to socialize to one another; and feeling a rush of relief Jessica went to the edge of the sidewalk and waited for traffic to slow down.

Perhaps the toys' secret being limitlessly divulged was not so horrible. Unless, she thought quickly, the strange machine had been trying to capture me.

No, impossible. The man pushing the machine could not have seen her. Or at least, that is what she preferred to think. She paused on the other side of the road and looked cluelessly on, wondering which direction Sunnyside was in and which direction Mary had taken.

She should have stayed up by the window and looked at the land marks. No, she should have asked Mike or Sulley to take her to a door that would lead to Michigan. Feeling stupid, Jessica did the only thing she could think of. She turned back and approached the group of humans. One of them wore long pants, and she tugged on the legging, effectively interrupting the conversation.

The human knelt. "Uh, what's up?" she asked.

"Can you tell me how to get to Sunnyside Daycare?"

"Sure, you're almost there. You see that red truck?" she said, pointing towards civilization. "Go that way until you come to the corner of Asphalt and Stoney, and follow Stoney; the daycare will have a big sign and a rainbow on the door."

Jessica nodded politely. "Thank you."

They parted ways and Jessica carefully crossed the road.

-0-0-0-0-

For a driver, it would have taken roughly ten minutes. For a pedestrian, perhaps twenty.

Almost an hour later Sunnyside was in sight, and forgetting all about her fatigue Jessica started running. As she neared the crosswalk, she saw a new button on the pole. Much lower down than all the other buttons, it read TOY PUSH.

Jessica stood on her tiptoes and reached up to push the button; and somehow, it affected everything. A sign came on that read TOY CROSSING, and all the cars got red lights.

Jessica ran across the road, hopped up onto the sidewalk and ran up to the daycare. She knocked on the glass to get the attention of the janitor, who opened the door for her.

"Thanks," Jessica said before she ran down to Room 17.

It was empty.

She slowly walked inside. There were no children. There were no toys.

"Woody?" she called. "Buzz?"

Silence. Sighing, Jessica turned to see Buzz in the doorway. But it was the broken Buzz from the waiting room.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Not you. I have to find my friends." Jessica walked past him.

"I can help." His boots clunked on the linoleum as he followed her.

"What about your mission?"

"Sadly no one believes me."

Jessica spared him a brief look. "You don't seem too upset."

"If you didn't mean me, there's another Buzz here, correct?"

"There should be."

"He will definitely believe me. He has to."

Jessica decided to ignore him. "Woody!" she called again. "Buzz!"

"Buzz!" Buzz echoed.

A door opened down the hall and Buzz poked his head out to look at them. Seeing an old friend and a mirror of himself he took a step out into the hall, speaking over his shoulder. "You've got to see this."

The broken Buzz was distracted when another Jessie came walking out of the room. The two Buzzes and the two Jessies approached each other.

Finally Buzz extended a hand. "Good to see you again, cowgirl."

Jessica shook his hand. "You too. All of you."

"Hey, you look good!" Woody said, and hastily added, "Even better than before."

"So," Buzz said to the broken version of himself. He smiled sardonically. "Who are you?"

"Very funny."

"Listen, around here everyone calls me Jessica," she told the broken Buzz. "Would it be okay if we called you Buzzard?"

"Uh, yes. Yes, that would be helpful. Listen, trouper," he said to Buzz, "I need your assistance regarding a serious matter."

"Why me?"

"Because no one else would understand. It's about Zurg."

Buzz looked back at the toys who claimed to be his friends. "I told you he was real!"

"Ah, this is too much," Hamm said, and as he walked away he took most of the toys with him.

"Look, here's the problem. If Zurg doesn't know he's a toy, like us, he could very well be on a mission to destroy the planet. We need to confront him."

"Huh? Huh? I told you. That's all the confirmation YOU need!" Mr. Potato Head cut in. "It's your turn to deal when you get back." He walked away.

"Well, that...that does sound serious."

Jessica rolled her eyes as she followed the rest of the toys, pushing the door mostly shut behind her.

"So what's the deal with Buzzard?" Barbie asked. "Do you - like - love him?"

"Aha, couldn't get enough of him, could you? Buzz got in your head," Woody added.

"No! And shut up," Jessica told them, motioning subtly to Jessie.

They shut up.

"Despite your...overwhelming welcome party, I'm still glad to be back," Jessica continued. "I can't wait to be played with. What day is it?"

"It's Friday."

Jessica sighed at her luck. "Of course it is."

"You waited this long," Mrs. Potato Head answered. "What's two more days?"

"Including tonight, fifty-two hours," Jessica shrugged.

"We'll play with you! I'll get Buzz to deal you in," Jessie answered as she approached. "You can be on my team."

Jessica's eyes passed around the toys she had come to love. "I know I am."

She followed the players to the table and knelt on the floor, waiting for their dealer.

"So he seems to really like you," Jessie observed.

"Yeah, I guess. He began stalking me at Mary's house. I don't know what to think."

"If he followed you that long, he might do anything for you," Slinky said.

"Look, can we talk about something else, please?"

"Like what?" Ken asked.

"I don't know, I personally think we've talked about everything," Woody answered.

Jessica halted, looking up at first Woody, and then Jessie.

"Well," she grumped. "I know one topic that's going to interest you."

"Try me." Woody confidently folded his arms.

"You're Jessie's brother and the Prospector's son."

A long silence followed that statement.

Finally Woody began standing. "Well, that's just perfect. I threw my own dad into the trash compactor."

"No, you never touched him!" Rex said.

"And technically that one was my dad," Jessica added helpfully.

Woody looked at her. "I'm sorry."

Unable to say anything more, he walked slowly away. 


End file.
